


Hello :)

by wordsofink



Series: solangelo one-shots [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alive Bianca di Angelo, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Mortal, Alternate Universe - Toddlers, Camp Half-Blood, Capture the Flag, Child Abuse, Childhood Friends, Christmas stuff, Cinderella AU, College AU, Coming Out, Complete, Cuddling, Demigods, Doctor!Will, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Frank Zhang - Freeform, Gen, Getting Together, Hades - Freeform, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Kidnapping, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Isolation, Jason/Nico friendship, Kayla - Freeform, Luke Castellan - Freeform, M/M, Maria di Angelo - Freeform, Married Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Mention of Death, Minor Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), One Shot, One-Sided Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson, Pride, Roommates, Some angst, Will Solace/Luke Castellan abuse, Will/Reyna friendship, bi!will, coffee shop AU, friends - Freeform, happy endings, naomi Solace - Freeform, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-11 03:04:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 30,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13515336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordsofink/pseuds/wordsofink
Summary: Trigger warnings are specified at the top of each chapter that contains them.Table of Contents2: morning - early mornings and pancakes3: the doctor becomes the patient - will overuses his powers4: blue - nico and will are best friends (tw)5: lake - will and nico in a lake6: pride - nico and will go to pride7: capture the flag - will gets hurt8: hiding from a devil - nico and will are happily dating, but something's not right (tw)9: hot chocolate and a hot guy - coffee shop au10: colors - will's never seen colors11: sometimes we break - death is just a part of life (minor death mention)12: falling for you - roommate au13: trouble - nico's always finding trouble, until trouble finds him14: falling in love - nico thinks he's in love with percy jackson15: playdate - they're toddlers, and they build forts16: happily ever after - some frazel fluff with a cinderella au*characters are not mine unless otherwise noted*Thank you :)Portuguese Version (translated by masterlarrypiece):wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/530777226-hello-portuguese-version





	1. intro

**Author's Note:**

> Hi :) This is my first time writing here, so I was thinking that I'd start with asking for any prompt suggestions :) Feel free to leave any in the comments.
> 
> I do not write anything containing extremely explicit content, but I am open to suggestions. Tags will be added as writing begins. Also, if there is anything that needs to be tagged, for whatever reason, please let me know. :)

Trigger warnings are specifically labeled on the chapters that contain them (in the top author's notes).

Table of Contents:

Chapter 2: morning - early mornings and pancakes  
Chapter 3: the doctor becomes the patient - will overuses his powers and nico takes care of him  
Chapter 4: blue - nico and will are best friends (tw)  
Chapter 5: lake - a version of how nico and will ended up in the lake  
Chapter 6: pride - nico and will go to pride  
Chapter 7: capture the flag - will gets hurt during capture the flag  
Chapter 8: hiding from a devil - nico and will are happily dating, but something's bothering will (tw)  
Chapter 9: hot chocolate and a hot guy - nico falls in love in a cafe  
Chapter 10: colors - will's never left the walls of his room, but one day that changes  
Chapter 11: sometimes we break - death is just a part of life, but that doesn't make it easier to deal with (minor death mention)  
Chapter 12: falling for you - nico finds himself falling for his roommate  
Chapter 13: trouble - nico's always finding trouble, until trouble finds him. now will has to come up with a ransom to get his husband back  
Chapter 14: falling in love - nico thinks he's in love with percy jackson  
Chapter 15: playdate - they're toddlers, and they build forts  
Chapter 16: happily ever after - some frazel fluff with a cinderella au


	2. morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico finds that maybe there are perks to early mornings.

Nico opens his eyes slowly. His left side was cold, which was unusual. Because it was the weekend, and Will and him had an agreement that Will wasn’t allowed to get out of bed until eight-thirty on days when neither them had work or school. Nico groans, glancing at the small digital clock on his nightstand. As he thought. It was barely even eight in the morning. Sitting up, he silently curses morning people. Why couldn’t people just start their days at more reasonable times?

Deciding that he’s definitely not getting back to sleep without Will, Nico stretches before pulling on some sweatpants and getting up. Nico looks in the bathroom first, but it’s dark and empty. Then he hears a crash from the kitchen. Instincts tell him it’s a monster, but his years of living with Will tell him differently.

Sure enough upon entering the kitchen, he’s not surprised to see a mess spread over their usually clean kitchen counters. Flour covers every surface within ten feet of where Will’s standing at the center of it all. Milk and eggshells litter the counter next to a bag of something that looks a lot like mini chocolate chips.

“Surprise,” Will offers weakly. He’s got a wet spot on his shirt that looks like milk, and there’s definitely flour in his hair. He runs a flour-covered hand through his hair, effectively securing the flour in his messy curls.

“I thought we agreed cooking wasn’t your thing,” Nico says, sighing. It’d only taken three instances to convince Nico that Will wasn’t allowed in the kitchen without supervision unless he was washing the dishes. It wasn’t that Will was a bad cook (he definitely could follow recipes), it was more so that he somehow ended up making large messes that Nico couldn’t even imagine possible.

“Well, yeah,” Will answers, shrugging. Nico doesn’t think he looks the least bit ashamed. “Why are you up?”

Nico rolls his eyes. “I heard a crash. And the bed was cold. It’s your fault,” he adds.

Will grins, moving towards Nico with his sticky hands. “You missed me.”

Nico backs away, determined not to become a flour-covered creature like Will. “It’s hard to sleep when you’re cold,” he says. “And don’t you dare.” The last statement was because Will had just tried to hug him.

“How about a kiss?” Will asks innocently. Nico eyes him warily. Will pouts. “Just one.”

“Fine.” Nico leans up as Will leans down. He’s expecting just a simple peck, but suddenly he feels sticky hands cupping his cheeks just as Will’s lips touch his. Nico jerks back.

“Solace!” Will pulls away, laughing.

“Now, go wash up. I’m making surprise pancakes,” Will says simply. He tries to shoo Nico away, but Nico doesn’t budge.

“Compromise. How about we both wash up. And then I’ll help you make pancakes.”

Will pouts for a moment, but then he brightens. “Okay. As long as they have chocolate chips.” Nico nods, already moving to try and get the pancake mix off of his face before it dries completely. It’s already somehow moved from his face to his hands and shirt. Will races him into the bathroom, grinning.

Later, after they’re both showered and the kitchen has been cleaned and pancakes made, they settle down on the couch, Will’s arms warm and comforting around Nico. They’re watching some cartoons because Will insists that you’re never too old to enjoy cartoons, and Nico just loves his boyfriend. (And he’s secretly enjoying the cartoons, but that’s not something he’ll admit to Will.)

“So, did you like your surprise?” Will asks, grinning. “Even though you had to help me make them.”

Nico nods, because he did enjoy the surprise, even if it took the better part of an hour to clean up all of the flour Will had somehow spilled.

“Just for the future, though, you are not allowed in the kitchen without supervision.” Will pouts for a moment before grinning.

“You’re right. Next time, I’ll just wake you up when I want pancakes.” Nico’s about to protest, but Will just simply kisses him. And he tastes like chocolate, so Nico thinks that maybe it wasn’t so bad getting up early.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first posted fic, so if you have any comments/suggestions, please let me know. :) I hope you enjoyed.


	3. the doctor becomes the patient

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will overuses his powers, so Nico takes care of him.

“He what?!” Nico asks. Jason winces, repeating what he’d just said. Nico sighs, rolling his eyes. Leave it to Will to be so selfless. After all of those talks about how Nico had to take care of himself, not overexert himself, _just please Nico have some self-preservation_. And Will goes and does exactly what he’d told Nico not to do.

Well, they’d have words. As soon as Will was back to his usual, hypocritical, selfless self. Nico leaves the class he was teaching to Jason as he stalks off to the infirmary.

He finds an unsympathetic Kayla attending to an unconscious Will in the backroom. “He’s just sleeping, though it could be a while before he wakes up,” she says. “I guess there’s some kind of bug going around, and Mr. Doctor over here thought he could save us all.” She grumbles a few other things as she checks on another patient.

“So, he’s just sleeping?” Nico asks. A sleeping Will wouldn’t be too difficult to take care of.

“He’ll probably wake up in two or three hours. You know the drill.” Nico nods. This didn’t happen often, but it happened more than Nico cared for. Honestly, it took hours out of his carefully planned out day of training and teaching and working on his son-of-Hades look.

“Just please keep him out of the infirmary. At least for a day.” Nico nods. He could do this. Will had taught him how to take care of people. Though, Will wasn’t most people. He was clingy and affectionate when he was tired, and he was stubborn as hell. Nico sighs as he loops one of his arms around Will’s shoulders before shadow-traveling them to the Hades cabin.

Luckily, they land on the bed, so Nico just has to throw the covers over Will’s sleeping form. While his boyfriend is still sleeping, he gets water and snacks and medicines. He isn’t really sure what Will will need, but he’s sure that Will will tell him.

The few times he’d done this, Will had woken up groggy and hungry. Nico was lucky that Will only got cuddly when he was tired. He didn’t think he could deal with actual sickness or anything.

It’s a few hours before Will even moves. Nico can only imagine the amount of healing that Will had done. Sometimes the overuse of his powers resulted in burns, but those usually went away with some ambrosia. Other times it resulted in fainting. The first time it’d happened, Nico had kind of freaked out.

“Kayla?” Nico turns to attention to Will.

“Nico, actually.” He gives Will a minute to process what he’s just said. He knows it’s gotten through Will’s tired mind when he sees that sappy grin appear. Then it disappears.

“Why am I here? Is everyone okay?” He tries to sit up, but Nico gently pushes him back down. “You didn’t kidnap me, did you?” Will asks suspiciously.

“No, Will. You overexerted yourself. So now I’m the doctor. And you’re the patient.” Will blinks for a moment before pouting.

“I’m fine. Just a little tired.” He’s interrupted by a yawn, his eyelids slowly closing for a moment before opening again. “I just needed a nap. I can go back.”

Nico shakes his head, climbing onto the bed. “No, Will. You’re here to rest up and recover. Kayla’s banned you from the infirmary for at least a day. Doctor’s orders.” Will pouts again, probably at the use of his own catchphrase. Then he brightens, snuggling into Nico’s side.

“So you’ll take care of me?” he asks, eyes wide and innocent. Nico nods.

“Yeah.” He pauses. “Are you hungry?” Will’s busy making a nest out of the blankets and pillows, snuggling close to Nico again. “Will, are you hungry?”

Will yawns, laying his head in Nico’s lap, looking up at him. “I wanna cuddle. Lay down.” He tugs at Nico’s arm, asking him to lay down. Nico gives in, sighing. He knew what he was up against, and he could hardly find it in himself to say no to Will’s puppy dog eyes. Will practically purrs when Nico wraps his arms around him, letting Will bury his face in Nico’s chest. Even though Will was bigger, he often liked being the smaller spoon.

“Just rest, okay?” He kisses Will’s forehead, brushing back his curls. Will hums, already halfway there. Nico closes his own eyes, melting into Will’s warmth.

It’s darker when he opens his eyes again. Will’s still curled up in his arms, softly snoring. Nico smiles, kissing Will’s forehead again before getting up. He uses the bathroom before finding a snack. He’d probably missed lunch cuddling with Will, and he was hungry.

“Nico?” He walks back over to the bed. Nico offers him some crackers, and Will accepts them happily. Nico knows there are going to be crumbs in his bed, but he’ll worry about that when Will is feeling better.

“Are you feeling better?” Will nods.

“I feel drained,” he says. Nico rolls his eyes. “I mean, I know why. But it still sucks, I guess.” Will wrinkles his nose, leaning back against the headboard. “Thanks for snuggling with me, though,” he adds. Nico smiles.

“Of course.”

“I’m assuming that I’m not allowed back in the infirmary for a while,” Will says. Nico nods. He loved that Will could heal and loved helping people, but sometimes he needed breaks.

“You should stop overexerting yourself, Will,” Nico says gently. Will nods. “It’s not good for you.”

“I know. Sometimes, I just don’t even think about it. I just want to make sure everyone is okay. And I can help them. So I do.” Nico nods. He understands. That was why he still struggled with not overtraining or using his own powers too much.

“But you also have to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.” Will sighs, nodding. Then he brightens again, kissing Nico’s cheek.

“When did you become the doctor?” he teases. Nico just smirks, leaning over to kiss Will back.


	4. blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Will are best friends, but their lives are very different. (Basically, Nico has a very amazing family, and Will doesn't.) Please note warnings.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: child abuse (not in too much detail but in there)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: child abuse (not in too much detail but in there)  
> Please let me know if anything (that hasn't yet been tagged) needs to be tagged.

Nico’s favorite color was blue. Like the cloudless sky or the shirt Papa gave Mama for her birthday or blueberries (which were his favorite food). Or Bianca’s ribbon that she used to tie up her hair or his cat’s collar. Or his best friend’s eyes. To Nico, blue was the perfect color for anything.

Will wasn’t sure he had a favorite color. They were all nice in his opinion, no single one of them standing out. There was green for the soft grass outside and red for his father’s angry face and yellow for his hair and blue for when he was bad. If Will had to answer, though, he’d probably say brown. Brown like the dirt that was always fun to play in and brown like the brownies his mom used to make.  
-  
Nico waited outside for his friend, Will, to come over. They were supposed to meet after school to try out Nico’s new ball that he’d gotten for his birthday. Nico sat on the steps of his house, the ball sitting next to him. It was bright blue, like a blueberry, Nico thought. He thought about bouncing it around a few times, but he also wanted to wait for Will. Where was Will? They’d promised to meet on Tuesday. And today was Tuesday, wasn’t it?

“He’s not here?” Bianca asks. Nico shakes his head. Bianca would be playing with him until Will got there, but she had piano lessons. “Maybe he forgot,” Bianca says. Nico shakes his head again. Will would never forget. He’d been so excited when Nico had told him about the ball.

Bianca disappears inside for her piano lessons, and Nico sits outside waiting. He’s just about to give up when he sees Will’s familiar blond hair coming towards him. He stands up, brushing off his pants. Will gives him a smile.

“Can I still play?” he asks. Nico nods. “I’m sorry I’m late. Father was angry.”

“My dad gets angry sometimes, too.” Nico didn’t really see the relation between being late and being angry, but he didn’t ask. Will was finally here, and they could finally play. Will smiles at him again, reaching out to catch the ball. It’s much more fun to play with someone, Nico thinks. When Bianca’s piano lesson is over, she comes out to play with them, too. And they play monkey in the middle, one of Nico’s favorite games. They end up playing all afternoon until Will’s father comes to get him.  
-  
Will wasn’t sure why his family was so different from his friend’s. Maybe it was because Nico had a mom and sisters. Will only had a dad. He didn’t even have a cat. He’d asked Nico about it once, but Nico had only asked why he didn’t have a mother. And Will didn’t want to tell Nico that it was his fault that his mother was gone, so he didn’t answer.

Will hadn’t noticed the difference until Nico invited Will over for dinner. Will was so excited because his father rarely ever let him do fun things, and eating at Nico’s house was kind of like an adventure. He’d never been to someone else’s house alone before.

“And that’s our pictures over there!” Nico is saying. He’s pointing at the fridge, which Will thinks is kind of a weird place to put pictures. Nico proudly shows him his own before showing Will Bianca’s and also Hazel’s. There are so many pictures on the fridge that Will wonders if there’s still food inside of it, but he doesn’t ask.

“And you want to see my room?” Nico asks. Will nods. He follows Nico upstairs, expecting something similar to his own room. Which it kind of is. There’s a bed and a desk and a nightstand and a closet. But there are also toys and games and even more pictures on the walls. “Do you like it?” Nico asks. Will nods. He wonders if maybe Nico’s family is richer than his, but he’s not sure.

“Can we play with something?” Will asks. Nico shrugs, nodding. “Like this?” Will asks again, picking up a toy car. Nico grins.

“I have more, too. So we can each have one.” Nico begins to dump out a small box of toy cars, and Will quickly chooses the one he wants to play with. “And we can make a track, too,” Nico says, getting his pillows off the bed to make a race track. “And now we race.” Will counts them down, and then they’re racing their cars through the maze of pillows. They do it so many times that Will’s lost count, but it’s fun. They have to stop when Maria (as she told him to call her) calls them for dinner.  
-  
Will’s late again, and Nico wonders if he should talk to Will. Papa had told him that all problems could be fixed by talking it out. When Will doesn’t show up after half an hour, Nico decides to see if maybe Will forgot. He leaves his ball on the steps, walking over to Will’s house. He rings the doorbell.

Mr. Solace appears at the door. He’s tall and thin. Nico doesn’t think he looks like Will. Maybe it’s because he’s not smiling. Will’s always smiling. It’s something Nico’s never told Will before, but he’s kind of afraid of Will’s dad. Will says he never laughs or makes jokes like Nico’s papa, and Nico wonders how someone can live without ever having laughed or even smiled.

“Will can’t play today,” Mr. Solace says. “He’s not feeling well, I’m afraid.”

“Tell him that I hope he gets better and can play tomorrow,” Nico says. Mr. Solace nods, and Nico runs back to his own house.

It’s not until Thursday that Nico sees Will again. Will’s smiling as usual, but something seems different. Maybe it’s because he was sick, Nico thinks. He remembers being sick sometimes. It wasn’t very fun.

They end up playing tag. Bianca plays with them, and she even lets Nico be It first. He’s super fast when he runs, so he knows that catching either Will or Bianca won’t take long. Will runs quietly while Bianca laughs whenever Nico comes close to tagging her. He did touch her hair, but Bianca said that it didn’t count because it wasn’t fair that her hair was longer than his and Will’s.

It’s all fun and games until Will trips over a tree root. Nico calls a time out before going over to help Will.

“What’s that?” he asks. There’s a weird bluish-blackish mark on Will’s hip. It kind of looks like a storm cloud, Nico thinks, a very bad one. Will glances at it before pulling his shirt down. “Does it hurt?” Nico asks, because it looks like something that would hurt.

Will shakes his head. “No. I mean, yes. Kind of. When I touch it.” Nico frowns.

“Where did you get it?” Bianca asks. She’s looking at Will with a serious expression that Nico doesn’t understand.

“I fell,” Will says quietly. He’s not smiling anymore. “I deserved it, so it’s okay,” he adds. Nico glance at his sister. She’s frowning now, too.

“How does one deserve to fall?” Nico asks. Bianca makes a motion to shush him, but he’s curious. And Will’s not smiling.

“I deserved to get a bruise,” Will says. “Because I’m bad.” Now Nico’s really confused. “I’m bad because I can’t do stuff I’m s’posed to.” Nico thinks Will’s about to cry. He wonders if he should hug him, like his mama does when he’s sad.

“Will,” Bianca says, “did your dad do that?” Will sniffles, wiping at his eyes, his fingers twisting in his shirt. After a moment, he nods.

“You can’t tell him or else he’ll hurt you,” Will says. “And you’re my friends. And I won’t let him hurt you.”

“Will, do you want to have a sleepover tonight?” Bianca asks.  
-  
Nico isn’t sure what’s happening. Bianca had a serious conversation with Mama and Papa, and then they had asked him some questions. And then Will had been asked some questions. Which led to Will crying, and now Mama was making popcorn for them to eat.

Nico still isn’t sure what’s happening when just days later, Will and him are sharing his bedroom. Will’s got another bruise on his arm and one on his leg now. Which makes Nico really angry, because all Will did was tell the truth. His best friend is curled up on the other side of the bed, and Nico knows he’s crying.  
-  
“What’s going to happen to Father? Are they going to hurt him?” Will asks. He wipes away his tears because Father always told him that boys didn’t cry.

“Mama says that they’re going to take him someplace where he can’t hurt you,” Nico says. It sounds like a good thing, but Father was all Will had. And now he didn’t have anyone. And it was all his fault. Just like Mama being taken away from them.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” Nico says when Will tells him this. “Mama and Papa say that they found a good place for you to go. With a nice family that won’t hurt you. And you can come and play with me whenever you want. So we can still be best friends.” Nico hands Will a stuffed dinosaur. “Rex always makes me feel better, so you can have him. If you want.” Will gives Nico a small smile, taking the dinosaur. He feels a little better.

“He’s my favorite color,” Will says. Nico makes a face, and Will laughs. “Brown can be pretty,” he says. “Like dirt. Or your eyes.” Nico giggles at that.

“My favorite color is blue,” Nico states proudly.

Will lights up. “Like my eyes,” he says. He smiles. Maybe this new family will be as fun as Nico’s family. And maybe he’ll make even more best friends. And then they can all go on adventures together. Will thinks he’d like that very much.


	5. lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Will are in a lake.

Nico was quite sure he knew how he’d once again ended up in this mess, and he was quite sure it wasn’t his fault. (Though, he was probably, once again, going to have to fix it.) The mess being that he was currently treading lake water because he’d been so unceremoniously dumped out of a canoe. Next to him, Will is trying to get the canoe flipped over, and it’d probably be easier if Nico helped him. But right now, Nico was thinking of just swimming back and leaving the canoe for someone with aquatic powers (Percy) to come and get it.

 

It’d started three days ago when Will had handed Nico a sheet of paper with brightly colored handwriting. It’d taken Nico a few minutes to read it because of his dyslexia and also because of Will’s awful crayon letters. After getting the general gist of the paper, he simply waits for Will to explain.

 

“Well?” Will asks. Nico continues to look at him. “It’s a bucket list. For the summer. For you to get more sun and be more involved in camp,” Will adds.

 

“I got that much from the header,” Nico says, pointing to a ridiculously long title written in blue at the top of the page.

 

“Yes, well, it is a very well designed bucket list.” He pauses. “I had help.” Nico figured as much.

 

“Well, I don’t think it’s going to happen, Solace,” Nico says. He scans the list again.

 

“Doctor’s orders, di Angelo. I got Chiron’s approval. He liked the idea.” Will says this with a few notes of pride, his face practically taken over with his big grin.

 

So Nico had found him dragged around with the Apollo cabin to their various activities regardless of how he felt about it. In retrospect, he hadn’t really hated any of the activities, but he probably wouldn’t be participating in at least half of them again - at least not with the Apollo cabin. Say what you will about them, but they weren’t ones to do anything by halves.

 

He’d gone swimming, made a birdhouse, helped in the infirmary. He’d also been signed up to teach a sword fighting class to younger children, and Will had supervised. For medical reasons, he’d explained. And lastly, Nico had gone canoeing, which hadn’t seemed like such a horrible idea. Until it became a horrible idea.

 

“This is your fault, Solace,” Nico says, spitting out some lake water. Will just grins at him. He’s given up on the canoe, just floating now. “Shouldn’t we be getting back to camp?”

 

Will just shrugs. “Personally, I think you’ve done quite enough heavy lifting for the gods right now.” He glances towards the shoreline, taking in the chaos that had erupted about five minutes ago. “Besides, the water feels nice. Swim with me.”

 

Nico shakes his head, swimming back towards the shore. Whatever had just happened, Nico was sure it’d be better to just take care of it rather than wait around for another message from the gods. Those never ended well.

 

“Hey, Nico!” someone called. “Like your swim?” Nico grumbles something inaudible as Percy sprints off towards the mess that’s just crashed into the other part of the lake.

 

“We’ll have to do this another time,” Will says, smoothly swimming by Nico. Nico notes that Will’s somehow managed to make his life vest look like an accessory rather than a giant balloon wrapped around his body. “But without that over there,” he adds. Nico just rolls his eyes. He won’t admit that it’s been fun hanging around with Will and his siblings all weekend. That would just stroke Will’s ego, and Nico couldn’t have that.

 

“In your dreams, Solace,” he shoots back, climbing out of the lake. Will grins. Nico contemplates just heading back to his cabin and letting some other unfortunate demigod take care of whatever mess they were in this time. There’s a shout, and Nico decides that he might as well just get this whole mess over with and done.

 

“I’ll hold you to that. But tomorrow is the campfire, and I fully expect you to be present,” Will calls after him. “I’ll even save a s’more for you!”

 

Nico sighs, but maybe hanging out with Will isn’t so bad after all. It’s more fun than constantly having to clean up divine being’s messes, for sure.


	6. pride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Will go to PRIDE.

“So, is that a yes?” Will asks. He’d asked if Nico wanted to go to PRIDE. And if so, would he want to help Will organize something? They’d been dating for just over a year now, and since then, Nico had become increasingly more comfortable with his sexuality. Will had certainly pulled him out of his comfort zone but not without a healthy dose of patience and general good feeling that always seemed to accompany Will.

“Sure. It could be fun.” Nico wasn’t honestly sure what PRIDE was exactly. He’d heard of it before, but since the Internet wasn’t really a thing that he had access to, all of his information came from campers. Who also had little access to the Internet. So, Nico wasn’t quite sure if he knew exactly what he’d just signed himself up for.  
-  
Will had taken care of most of the heavy lifting, along with some of the other counselors. He’d arranged the transportation, Chiron’s approval, advertising. Nico had been put in charge of finding something that couldn’t be considered a shade of black to wear. Will’s only requirement was that something that Nico wore had to have color. This wasn’t hard, but Nico was stubborn, and he had a reputation to uphold. He couldn’t just walk around in whatever bright clashing ensemble like Will managed to throw together every morning.

Will grins when he sees Nico, and Nico wishes that he’d brought sunglasses. Because Will was wearing some brightly tie-dyed shirt and a just as bright smile. Holding his curls back was a rainbow bandanna. Will greets him with a kiss on the cheek and a small rainbow flag. Nico gives it a wave.

“Nice to see you in color,” Will says. Nico had finally (with Piper and Jason’s help) managed to find something that was both tasteful and colorful. He’d settled on a white shirt with a rainbow pocket in the corner. He was wearing his usual jeans and sneakers, though.

The trip wasn’t too long, and Nico suspected that there was some magic involved. He wasn’t sure where they were going, but as long as they got there quickly, he was fine. Sitting on a bus with a bunch of teenagers was a bit more painful that he thought it’d be. He surely hadn’t predicted the sing-along that erupted barely five minutes into the trip.

When they got there, Will gave them instructions about what time to meet up and where. But Nico wasn’t paying attention to that. His eyes were fixated on all of the colors and the sights and the sounds. There were so many people, and they were dancing and talking.

“Hey, Nico,” Will says. He takes Nico’s hand, and they join the crowd. It wasn’t anything like Nico had imagined, and it wasn’t anything like he could have imagined. Just walking around for ten minutes he saw couples of all varieties kissing and dancing and just generally celebrating their lives. “Do you like it?”

Nico nods. “Yeah. It’s festive,” he says. Will grins.

“Hey, thanks for coming. I know it’s not really your kind of place and all.” Nico nods again. Will was his boyfriend, and Will liked these kinds of things. There were a lot of things he’d do for Will. It wouldn’t be fair if they just holed up in the Hades cabin or only took peaceful walks around the lake.

“It’s not too crowded here,” Nico says. They had managed to find a less busy spot.

Will smiles, leaning in to kiss Nico’s cheek. Nico still wasn’t crazy about PDA, but Will was so patient and nice about it. He can tell Will’s surprised when Nico tugs lightly on Will’s shirt to kiss him on the lips. He sees the blush spread underneath Will’s many freckles.

“Wanna dance?” Nico nods. Even though the music is more upbeat, they attempt to slow dance. And, honestly, this was never something Nico thought he’d be doing either. Slow dancing in a crowd of people with his boyfriend. To some top hits of the year. It was never something he thought he’d enjoy. He smiles, and Will catches it, grinning back.

Nico doesn’t know how long they just dance. When the song changes, Will shows off his more modern dance moves. To which Nico laughs but eventually joins in. It’s a bit too loud to have a conversation, so they mostly just dance and steal the occasional kiss.

“I’m hungry,” Nico says. He glances around for food. And it’s kind of hot, so he’s also thirsty. Will nods, leading Nico over to the food stalls. They’ve just managed to get themselves something when Nico hears a shout. It’s joined by another shout. And then the crowd is surging in that direction, and Nico’s being bumped and jostled as the crowd shifts around him. For a moment, he can’t seem to find Will in the crowd. The colors are mixing together, and it’s getting harder to breathe. He tenses when he feels a hand close around his arm, but it’s just Will.

“What was that?” Will’s managed to get them out of the crowd. Now, they’re sitting just outside of the main PRIDE event. The air out here feels cooler, less sweaty and charged. Nico takes a deep breath, accepting the water Will hands him. He takes a few sips before focusing on Will.

“Protesters, probably.” Nico tenses for a moment. He feels Will’s thumb softly stroking his palm. “It’s okay, though. They won’t do anything but yell and wave signs. It doesn’t mean that PRIDE is bad or that we’re wrong.” Nico nods. He knows that. He believes that. But sometimes he needs a reminder.

They sit in silence, eating. Nico suddenly feels tired out. Which he thinks is kind of funny. He can fight for hours on end, go on quests with little sleep or food, but being around people for three hours is what makes him tired. He finishes off his food, leaning into Will’s side. Will’s arm automatically goes around his waist, pulling him just a little closer. After all, it is kind of hot outside, and they’re both a little sweaty. But Nico doesn’t mind. (Though he’ll be taking a shower shortly after he gets back to camp.)

“Do you wanna head back? I can just let someone know.” Will asks. “Or we can just walk around the city for a little bit? There’s still another hour before I promised Chiron we’d be back.”

“Maybe in a little bit,” Nico says. He yawns. “I’m kind of okay with staying right here for now.” He hears Will give a little laugh, can feel the vibrations from where his head rests on Will’s chest.

“Okay,” Will says. Nico feels Will kiss his head before getting comfortable. He watches the other PRIDE-goers dance and laugh and sing, and it’s kind of amazing that he’s apart of that. Something so big and grand. And that he has an amazing boyfriend to share it with.

“Thank you,” he says. He knows Will’s smiling without even looking, but he looks anyways. Because he doesn’t think he’ll ever tire of seeing Will smile.

“You’re welcome.” And somehow it feels like Will understands that Nico was thanking him for more than just taking him to PRIDE. But for also being one of his best friends. And for being an amazing boyfriend. And just simply for believing in Nico. Because he’s come a long way from that little kid he’d been when he and Will had first met. Nico’s a little overcome with this realization. And he’s not sure how to tell Will all of this, so he just leans over and places a small peck to Will’s smile, hoping that for now, the kiss will say it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've only ever been to PRIDE once, so forgive me if details don't quite follow correctly.


	7. capture the flag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will gets hurt in a Capture the Flag game.

In Will’s medical perspective, Capture the Flag should not be a regular demigod event. In fact, it shouldn’t be an event at all. It always resulted in long nights and grumpy patients. Yet, it was still a thing. Because they were demigods, and if you couldn’t fight each other for fun, what else was there to do? (Well, Will could think of a lot of things, but he was sure to be overruled.)

Will settles on the edges of the game. For every game, a handful of the Apollo healers volunteered as medics. Because even though Capture the Flag was a game, it was a game played with swords and fire and actual combat. Will sighs, scanning the area for Nico. He’d finally been cleared (by Will) to participate, and he’d been strategizing all afternoon with the Athena and Ares cabins.

“Think this will go better than the last one?” Kayla asks. Will just shrugs. He’s not entirely sure, honestly. “Ten drachmas that at least four will need stitches.” Will sighs. If only four people needed stitches or setting broken limbs, that’d be a miracle.

The game begins, and Will clutches at his first aid kit. It’s already beat up and battered from all of the times he’s had to lug it around. He’ll probably need to restock it after this game. He runs inventory in his head, his thoughts jerking to the present when Kayla sprints off. He follows her, finding a younger demigod. The injury isn’t deep, and after bandaging the wound, she’s back in the game.

The main fighting has moved into an open area, and Will once again looks around for Nico. He always liked to watch Nico fighting. He was so agile and strong. He made fighting look effortless, which Will knew it wasn’t from many years of practicing. Will ducks as an arrow flies over his head. It sticks into the tree trunk behind him, and Will moves to another spot to watch.  
“Hey, Will,” Kayla calls. Will turns to see her running towards him. “I need you really quick.” Will sighs. He’s one of the best healers, so he can only imagine what’s happened. He follows Kayla back towards the lake. There’s another demigod, his ankle twisted at a weird angle. Will takes a deep breath.

“Just trust me, okay?” Will says. The demigod nods. Will starts to hum as Kayla quickly relocates the bone. The boy groans, his shoulders jerking. Will gets him some ambrosia while Kayla wraps the ankle. “I’d take it easy if you don’t want that to swell too bad,” Will says. They help the boy up, watching him hobble off.

“Not too bad tonight,” Kayla says. Will has to agree with her so far. He does wonder if maybe the casualties are worse on the other team. “Well, off to tend to more victims,” she says.  
-  
Nico felt so alive. He hadn’t actually fought anyone outside of just sparring in so long. Chiron (and Will) had finally cleared him to participate in all camp activities, and it felt good to be able to practice his technique is almost-real conditions. As he makes his way through the other team’s defense, he wonders where Will was. The medic was never too far away from the fighting, and he often shadowed Nico to the point that it was predictable where he’d be. But Nico didn’t see him.

Nico manages to disarm his opponent, and he quickly moves forward. The goal of Capture the Flag was never to seriously hurt anyone. They were all (usually) friends in the end. And the less injuries, the less Will complain about the horrors of camp activities.

There are a series of shouts in the distance, and Nico hopes that those are shouts of victory. He heads towards the trees, scanning the area around him. Everyone is either occupied with holding an opponent off or trying to find the opponent’s flag. Nico jumps when a hand touches his shoulder.

“Solace!” Will grins at him. There’s a small cut on Will’s cheek and a bruise on his knee. “Don’t sneak up on me. I could have skewered you.”

Will laughs. “You wouldn’t. You love me too much.” Nico’s face flushes. While they were dating, they hadn’t quite crossed those boundaries yet. “I know where the flag is,” Will says.  
Nico eyes him. The medics weren’t technically in the game, so it could be considered cheating if they were used to sources of information. “And you’re not going to tell me,” Nico adds.

Will shrugs. Nico looks at Will again, trying to see if he can get a hint as to where this flag is. Nico quickly looks around again. He was standing alone in enemy territory, which meant that all was not to be so quiet for too long. On second glance, he sees something caught in the tree above him. He quickly shadow-travels himself up there.

He smiles triumphantly when he sees blue fabric waving about. Leave it to the Hermes cabin to tie their flag to a tree. However, upon closer inspection, the flag doesn’t look quite right. It’s not a single piece of fabric like he’d hoped. It’s just a blue scarf wrapped around the branch.

“Just a trick,” he says. “Stupid Hermes cabin making us waste our time.” Will smirks. Nico hops down from the tree, carefully searching the area. He thought that they were probably close to the actual flag. He’s about to turn to Will to ask him for a hint when he hears a shocked cry.

“Will!” It was dark, and neither of them had seen the rope lying in the grass. Now, it was tied around Will’s ankle, dangling him just a few inches above the ground. In Nico’s opinion, a stupid trap. Of course, he now wonders if it hadn’t been for the game but rather for the occasional monster that entered camp.

“Um, help?” Will asks. Nico quickly assesses the situation. He can’t exactly cut Will down as falling would hurt him, and he’s not tall enough to reach the rope where it’s around Will’s ankle. “Nico.” Will’s voice is uncharacteristically high pitched, like he’s afraid, and that makes Nico angry.

“It’s okay, Will,” he says. “I’m going to get help, okay?” Will nods slowly. He’s shaking a little, and Nico doesn’t know if that’s from hanging upside down or because Will’s kind of freaking out.

Will’s about to say something else when the rope snaps, sending Will crashing back to the ground. Nico rushes over to him, quickly checking him over.

“I think I twisted something,” Will mumbles. “And my head hurts.” And his nose is bleeding. Nico sighs. He’s beginning to understand why Will hates Capture the Flag.  
-  
After a long talk with Chiron about what should be allowed and what shouldn’t in Capture the Flag games and Jason’s teasing (you’re starting to sound like Will, Nico), he’s finally calmed down enough to check on Will. Kayla had been giving him updates in between checking on everyone else. Since they were down a healer, that just meant that everyone else had to work harder.

“We just woke him up a few minutes ago. He’s at least got a minor concussion. Austin fixed his shoulder,” Kayla says. Nico nods. He finds Will in the back of the infirmary, cuddled up in blankets.

“Did you win?” Will asks. Nico smiles, nodding. It turns out that they hadn’t been close to the flag, but luckily, Annabeth had gotten the flag while Nico had shadow-traveled Will to the infirmary. “That’s good,” Will says softly.

“You feeling okay?” Will shrugs, wincing. Nico gives him an encouraging smile, kissing Will’s cheek. “Do you feel up for cuddling?” Will scoots over to give Nico some space to crawl underneath the blankets. Will curls around him, sighing softly. Nico smiles, brushing Will’s hair back.

“I hate Capture the Flag,” Will mumbles into Nico’s shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. I know, Will.” And Will quirks a small smile.

“Am I allowed to sleep now?” Nico makes him wait until Kayla comes to check on him again, but then she’s tucking them in and wishing them sweet dreams.

“Guess this game wasn’t much better than the last one,” he hears Kayla say on the way out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eh, I'm not too proud of this one. But it's done :)


	8. hiding from a devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Will are happily dating, but something's been bothering Will. And Nico's determined to find out.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: elements of cheating, non-consent (implied), sexual language/actions (kind of implied), abuse
> 
> If you want to read without the more explicit, stop at "once they're in his apartment" and pick up again with "Nico's still up."
> 
> But if any of the triggers really bother you, I would suggest not reading this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: elements of cheating, non-consent (kind of implied), sexual language/actions (kind of implied), abuse
> 
> I promise the next one will be fluffy and light.

Will had been acting strangely lately, Nico thought. He’d been more distant, more jumpy, more tired. This had been happening for two weeks or so (at least, that had been when Nico had started to notice it the most), only getting worse as the days went on. They would have dinner together, and Will would zone out in the middle of their conversation. Or they would be watching a movie, and Nico would move to hold Will’s hand only for Will to startle and jerk away. And usually Will was a morning person, always up by eight, but lately he’d been sleeping in as late as nine or ten if Nico let him. Nico understood that Will had late shifts, but he didn’t understand why it was affecting him all of a sudden.

“Hey, Will?” Will looks up from his book. Nico can see the dark circles underneath Will’s eyes from across the room. He moves to sit next to Will on the couch. Now that Nico’s got Will’s attention, he’s unsure of how to continue. How do you ask your boyfriend about something he’s obviously hiding? They’d always been relatively honest with each other, neither one of them particularly good at keeping secrets. “Is everything at work okay?”

Will nods, smiling. “Yeah. I think I’m really starting to understand how things are run. And I’m scheduled to help with an operation next week.” Will had recently started working at the nearby hospital. When he’d first started, Nico remembers how tired Will had been when he’d come home. Now, about a year in, they were mostly adjusted to the odd hours.

“That’s good news,” Nico says, smiling. Will’s set his book down, so Nico reaches out to take Will’s hands in his. Will smiles back at him. “I was thinking that we should do something this weekend. Like, see a movie or go out to eat. It’s been a while since we’ve done that.”

Will nods, not quite meeting Nico’s eyes now. Nico frowns. “I, uh, yeah. That’d be great.” Nico isn’t sure if he should press or not. On one hand, it could be something important. On the other, it could just be the stress of them both working now. They hadn’t had a lot of time to really be together, just able to catch a few hours here and there.

“Is there something else you wanted to do?” Nico asks. Will shakes his head quickly. “Because we can just stay in and do something if that sounds better.” Honestly, Nico just wanted to spend some time with Will, and he also hoped that it would prompt Will to talk about whatever had been bothering or upsetting him.

“We could do both,” Will says, finally looking at Nico. “We do have the whole weekend.” Nico smiles. They’d been dating for seven months now, but they had been friends for six years before that. The idea of dating was still kind of new to them, but they’d moved into the new territory with the usual grace and clumsiness that accompanied most things they did together.

Will wraps his arm around Nico’s waist, pulling him closer and dropping a kiss to Nico’s head. Nico reaches up, and they spend a few minutes kissing before Will’s stomach growls, and Nico decides that it’s time for dinner.  
-  
Will wakes up to Nico nuzzling closer to him. Soft light streamed through the blinds, and Will pulls the blankets back over him. Nico tended to be a blanket hog.

“Good morning,” Nico whispers. Judging by how awake Nico sounded, it was probably at least nine-thirty. Will smiles, cuddling closer to Nico. He hears Nico giggle, and he places a few kisses to Nico’s exposed skin. Despite always complaining that he was cold, Nico slept in short sleeves and boxers. “Are you hungry? I could make us pancakes.”

Will hums, but he doesn’t really feel like getting out of bed, even if Nico’s pancakes were amazing. With work and the rest of his life, he hadn’t been getting too much sleep. Will’s about to ask if Nico can just bring him pancakes, when he hears his phone buzz. Nico looks at him curiously.

Will flips over to glance at the screen, and his blood runs cold. He’d hoped Luke had forgotten. He immediately deletes the message and puts his phone on silent, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He feels a hand on his arm, and he jumps. “Will, sunshine? Is something wrong?” Will tunes him out for a moment to try and come up with a good lie.

“It’s fine. Just someone from work asking if I could cover their shift,” he says. Nico doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t ask. “I may have to cover their shift if no one else takes it,” he adds. Nico leans over to kiss him softly.

“You’ve been working too much. It’s okay to have a break now and then.” Will nods. Honestly, he hadn’t been working quite as much as Nico thought he was. Will feels that cold seep into him again, and he shivers. “Will, honestly. Is something wrong? Are you getting sick?”

Will shakes his head. He’s caught between just blurting out the truth and pretending that he’s sick. Neither one of them are good ideas, he thinks. “I’m fine. Just a little cold. You stole all of the blankets again.” He tries to make his voice light, but he falls just short. Nico gives him a hard look.

“I think I’m going to take a shower, okay?” Nico nods, kissing Will’s cheek again. “I’ll make pancakes.” Will nods, smiling.

Once Nico’s gone, Will hurries to the bathroom. He makes sure to grab his phone, checking his messages. Sure enough, Luke has texted him again. Will locks the bathroom door, turning on the shower. He quickly reads Luke’s message over again. He wonders if tonight will be the final time they see each other. Even as he thinks it, he knows he’s lying to himself. He finds himself typing back. Luke responds immediately. Will deletes the entire conversation.

He steps into the shower, the water slightly warmer than he likes it. As he washes his hair, he tries to think of something to say to Nico. Something to say to Luke. He can’t keep doing this; someone’s going to get hurt. As he brushes over a bruise on his hip, he corrects himself, wincing. Someone’s already gotten hurt.

Will hates lies, and he hates lying. Especially to Nico. And he’s sure if he told Nico, Nico would be understanding and protective. But what if he wasn’t? What if he hated Will for hurting him and lying to him? And if he told Nico, what would Luke do? Would he hurt Nico? Will couldn’t let that happen. Even with the scorching water, Will shivers, goosebumps appearing along his arms. Between the exhaustion, the lying, the pain, he couldn’t keep doing this.  
-  
They’re sitting on the couch now, an empty plate on the coffee table in front of them. Nico’s winning, though it’s not as fun as it used to be. Will isn’t laughing or trying to distract Nico; he isn’t even smiling, really. Instead, he’s playing in a controlled manner that Nico associates more with Will doing surgery rather than Will playing video games. Except, he seems distracted. Will doesn’t even notice when Nico stops playing.

“Hey, I won,” he says, sounding both surprised and confused. “Wait. Were you not playing?” Will’s eyebrows crinkle together.

“Will, something’s bothering you,” Nico says. And now it’s out there. Will freezes, his eyes going wide. He doesn’t quite look at Nico, and Nico can’t quite name the emotion that’s spread across Will’s face. Guilt? Shame? Distress? Anger? Or is Nico just reading too much into this, and it’s all just exhaustion?

“I have to go into work today,” Will says. “No one took the shift, so I volunteered.”

“Okay. What time do you have to go in?”

Will hesitates for a moment. “Seven tonight.” Nico nods. It wasn’t unusual for plans to change out of the blue. What was unusual was the way Will was acting about it. “It’s just a few hours, though, so I should be home by midnight.” Nico nods again.

“That’s fine, Will. We still have the day together and tomorrow.” Will nods, but he’s not brightening up. “Do you want to just stay in today? That way you’ll be rested when you go in.” Will shrugs. Nico takes that as a yes. “Do you want me to give you a massage? You’ve been pretty stressed out lately.”

Will nods slowly. Nico smiles. They move into the bedroom so Will can lay down. “It’d work better if you take your shirt off,” Nico says. Will hesitates, but he does as Nico suggests. Nico kisses Will’s shoulders as he starts to work at them. Will’s muscles are tense. Nico wishes he’d thought of this sooner. Will groans as Nico works out a particularly tense muscle.

Nico kisses Will as he makes his way down Will’s back. It’s intimate, but nothing that they hadn’t ever experienced before. They used to give each other massages regularly before they were dating, so it wasn’t a big deal to see each other half naked. Seeing each other naked wasn’t really a big deal either. Nico smiles as he remembers the first time they’d had sex. They’d both been so clumsy and awkward, but it couldn’t have been more perfect. Now, he can’t quite remember the last time they’d had sex. They’d both been so busy lately. Nico wonders if he could work it into their weekend plans.

“Will?” Nico asks. He’s about halfway down Will’s back when he notices the mark on Will’s hip. There’s another just along the waistline of his pants. “What’s this?” Will squirms trying to figure out what Nico’s talking about. Then he tenses underneath Nico’s hands.

“It’s nothing. I just bumped into something at work earlier.”

“Why’re there more? You couldn’t have possibly run into that many things.” Will just shrugs. “Someone’s not pushing you around at work, are they?” Will shakes his head.

“No, work is good,” Will says, and Nico can at least tell that that’s a true statement. He continues to work out Will’s muscles as he tries to figure out what Will is hiding. Maybe Will fell? But that wouldn’t explain why he’d have bruises so far apart from each other. He wonders if he asked Will to undress how many bruises he’d find. He wonders if he should ask.

“Do you want to go out for lunch?” Will asks suddenly. Before Nico can answer, he’s sitting up and pulling his shirt back over his head. Nico doesn’t even see if there are more bruises on his chest or not.

“Yeah,” Nico says instead. “How about that cafe?”  
-  
Will’s hands are shaking, and he feels like he’s going to throw up. He’s just kissed Nico goodnight, and he’ll be kissing someone else in the next fifteen minutes. Will wonders why he can’t just stand up to Luke, how it went so wrong.

He’d broken up with Luke when it was evident that they weren’t good together. (And he’d had a massive crush on Nico as well.) Luke hadn’t taken the news well, reacting somewhat violently (which was one of the reasons that Will had broken up with him). Will had done his best to try and avoid Luke, but somehow Luke had found him. And then had threatened him. And now Will met up with him whenever Luke needed something from him.

Will was more afraid of what Luke would do to Nico or his family than what Luke would do to him. For what it was worth, Luke had already done what he wanted with Will. The rest was just because he enjoyed it. And he was also afraid of how Nico would react. They’d been friends for so long, and when Will had started dating Luke, Nico had been so supportive. Will had never told Nico the real reason that they’d broken up. Luke could be charming when he wanted to be.

“Miss me?” comes a voice, and Will immediately tenses. “Where’s that smile that I’ve missed so much?” That much was a lie. Most of Will’s smiles around Luke were fake. “Come on. I have a surprise for you.” Will doesn’t fight it. The less he fights, the less it hurts in the morning. Both emotionally and physically. Luke drives them to his place, smiling and kissing Will the whole way.

Once they’re in his apartment, he slams Will against the wall, his lips leaving sloppy trails as he tries to get Will’s shirt off. Will’s mind has gone completely blank. He doesn’t fight back; he doesn’t try to stop it. It’s his fault because he’d come. He didn’t have to give in to Luke’s wishes. It was all his fault.

Luke’s hand trails down, down, down, and Will gasps. He knows it feels good because of the hormones and the chemicals in his brain telling him it feels good. He still feels like throwing up or passing out. Honestly, he might’ve already passed out. Luke swipes at the tears falling from his face, his strong hands leaving more bruises along Will’s hips. He carries Will into the bedroom.

From there, it’s all a hazy nightmare. Luke’s hands are everywhere; there’s kissing and biting and scratching. Moans and gasps leave his mouth unwarranted. He doesn’t know how long he’s laying there, how many times Luke rams into him. He’s not even sure if they’re having sex. For all he knows, Luke could just be using him as a human punching bag. But it doesn’t matter, he thinks.

Because it’s all Will’s fault.  
-  
Nico’s still up. It’s almost midnight when he hears the door unlock, Will coming home. He’s planned on- well, it doesn’t matter what he planned on doing because it all goes out the window when he sees Will.

Will’s standing there, looking so broken. Tears are streaming down his face, his hair is a mess. There are bite marks and bruises and scratches littering his exposed skin. And Nico doesn’t even want to think about what’s underneath Will’s clothes. Instead, he simply opens his arms, and Will falls into them, sobbing and shaking so badly that Nico’s worried he’ll bite his own tongue.

He doesn’t know how long they sit there like that, but eventually, Nico has to calm Will down or else he’ll make himself sick. He just rubs Will’s back, kisses him softly, brushes back his hair. Will won’t look at him, just clings to Nico so tightly. After a few questions, it’s clear that Will isn’t ready to talk, and Nico won’t push him. He has an idea of what’s happened, and he won’t push Will until he’s more stable. He eventually gets Will into the bathtub, running a soft sponge over Will’s skin. He hates how Will flinches and winces.

Then he’s tucking Will into bed, kissing him softly, holding him until he falls asleep. Once he hears those soft snores, he’s calling Reyna and Piper and Jason and anyone else he can think of.

It takes a lot of patience and reassuring, but Nico manages to hear the main story. And then he has to convince Will not to move out, that nothing between them is different. Because how could he be mad at Will for everything he’s been through? It wasn’t his fault. Yes, there were things that could have been prevented, but it wasn’t Will’s fault. Will was trying to protect him, and Nico can’t help but feel slightly at fault for how everything turned out. But he knows he can’t push this onto himself either.

It’s a month before the authorities get involved, with Will’s consent. And then two week after that, they move to a different apartment. And as Will slowly starts to get better, more of the details start to come out. And Nico’s just angry. He’s so angry.

It’s a process, with so many steps and possibilities, but eventually the sky begins to clear up. Will’s back to his regular hours, and Nico’s waking up less and less to calm him down from a panic attack. Life goes on, and it’s not perfect. But Will’s smiling again, and neither of them are constantly worried about Luke showing up again.

And slowly but surely, the sun rises day after day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure how to end this, but I hope that it's at least accurate and hopeful. Abusive relationships are kind of a tricky topic. Please let me know if anything in here is offensive or needs to be tagged (if it isn't already).


	9. hot chocolate and a hot guy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico falls in love in a cafe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some fluff :)
> 
> (I think I'm bad at titles haha)

Nico liked dark colors, instrumental music, and authentic Italian food. He wouldn’t say that he was particular, but he did have a tendency to not like things when they didn’t go his way. Which was why he was currently standing in line for the second time today. His once hot cup of coffee was now cooling quickly in his hands, but it didn’t matter because he wasn’t going to drink it anyways. Hence, why he was standing in line.

“Hi, what can I get for you?” The blond boy’s smile falters a bit when he recognizes Nico, who had just been standing here only ten minutes ago. “Back so soon,” the cashier adds, grinning again.

“I ordered a hot chocolate. This is definitely coffee.” He’s already checked, and he even made sure that it was his name on the side of the cup.

“We just hired someone yesterday. They’re still learning the ropes, I guess.” Nico doesn’t input what he’s thinking. He doesn’t understand how he can order one thing and get something completely different. He realizes that he’s being a little impatient and stops tapping his foot. (To be fair, he hadn’t realized he was doing that.)

“And your name?” Blond Boy asks.

“I’m standing right here. You can just hand it to me.” The boy pouts, but he hands Nico his cup. Nico opens the lid, sniffing at his drink. Chocolate. “Thanks.”

He takes his cup back over to the table he’d claimed earlier. He had some homework that he needed to finish, and he’d come to the cafe for a change of scenery. It was late afternoon, and the cafe was mostly empty. The only other customers there were either reading or picking something out of their teeth.

He gets so wrapped up in his homework that he doesn’t even notice Blond Boy standing there until his shadow falls over Nico’s book. Nico glances up, ready to tell the boy to sweep somewhere else when he realizes that he’s holding a wrapped something.

“I thought you could have this?” the boy- Nico squints at the name tag (complete with a smiley face) Will, says. “It’s on the house. Just a little treat.” And then that blinding grin is back. Nico accepts the treat, because he does have manners, and unwraps it. Inside is a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. It’s still warm and currently threatening to melt in Nico’s hands.

“Um, thanks,” Nico says. He takes a bite of the cookie. It’s as delicious as it looks. Nico kind of expects Will to get back to his job, but Will just stands there for a few extra minutes. “Um, bye?” Nico says. He’s not trying to be rude, but he’s got homework to do. Will waves then, heading back to the counter.  
-  
This time it’s late. He’s been in classes all day, and his friends dragged him out for dinner. And now he’s just tired, but he has homework and studying to do. He would go back to his flat, but Jason’s there with Piper. And he can’t study with them making out or cuddling or fighting over who’s better at Mario Kart.

“Hot chocolate?” Will asks, and Nico’s surprised to see him working so late. Nico nods. He’s been coming here semi-regularly. It’s a good place to get homework done. The cafe offers comfortable seating and free wifi and clean bathrooms. The music is soft, which Nico appreciates. (And if he stays long enough, Will sometimes brings him a sweet treat.)

He heads over to his usual spot. The place is mostly empty, which means that Will will probably bring Nico’s drink over to him. Nico’s prediction proves true in five minutes when Will walks over to where he’s sitting.

“Hot chocolate for Nico,” Will says. He’s been wearing that proud smile since he managed to get Nico’s name. “And a sweet treat.” He places a cannoli on the table next to the hot chocolate.  
“Thanks,” Nico mumbles.

“Do you, uh, mind if I sit here?” Nico shrugs. It’s a free country. Will sips at his own drink, probably tea, scrolling through something on his phone. Nico attempts to do his science. He’s not awful at it, but it’s too many facts at once to try and memorize three days before a test. “Do you need help?” Will asks.

“You know biology?” Nico asks.

Will nods. “Yup. Even got an A,” he says. “Which is probably good since I want to be a doctor.” This is new information for Nico. Not that he had much information about Will. They had hardly talked much during his visits. Nico flips his study guide around so Will can look at it. Will nods as he reads it.

“Alright, so which part of this don’t you get?”

Nico sighs. “Like all of it. Science isn’t really my thing.”

“What? Science is so fun,” Will says, and Nico bets he was one of those kids who did the homemade science experiments when he was little. “It’s just so amazing how much we know and that we still probably don’t even know half of it.” Nico just nods. Will sighs.

After hijacking Nico’s notebook, Will begins a very visual explanation. He draws little pictures and connects everything with arrows. Honestly, it would probably make no sense when Nico got home, but he thought he was slowly getting it now. Will adds little notes next to his pictures in his awful handwriting. Nico makes a comment, and from there, Will makes Nico make his own little notes.

“It’ll help you learn it better, anyways,” he says. Nico’s not sure how long they spend there, just poring over his stupid biology textbook. He’s sure that Will should probably be working, but he can’t find it in him to remind Will of that when Will’s voice sounds so nice explaining things to Nico. But suddenly Will sits up, checking his phone. “Shoot. I promised my mom I’d be home tonight to watch my siblings.”

Nico thanks him while Will hurriedly gets his stuff together and leaves.  
-  
“You should ask for his number,” Hazel says. She and Nico are meeting at the cafe for lunch, and Nico supposes he should be more subtle when glancing at Will. Not that that was what he was doing, of course. But then Will smiles at him, waving a little, and blows Nico’s whole cover. “I think he’s cute,” Hazel adds.

“He just makes good hot chocolate,” Nico says. Like he hasn’t seen Will just dump packaged cocoa powder in a mug of hot milk before. He’s about to say something else when Will comes over to the table.

“I brought two this time,” Will says, placing two cookies on the table. “Chocolate chip,” he adds. Hazel thanks Will, grinning at Nico.

“Oh, he definitely likes you,” she says. She bites into her cookie. “You’d better at least ask for his number before he stops giving you free food.” She pokes his arm to get her point across. Nico catches Will looking at them. They had talked more since that night spent studying.

Nico had learned that Will had four siblings, all younger than him. That his mother was also a nurse, and that Will was also in college like Nico. In turn, Nico had told him about Hazel and Frank and his other friends. They had mostly avoided touchy subjects like Nico’s family and Will’s father and politics.

“If you don’t, I definitely will,” Hazel adds, smiling.

“I dare you,” Nico says. And then Hazel is getting up and marching over to the counter. Nico watches in horror as Hazel whispers something into Will’s ear, watches Will’s face go completely red, watches Will glance over at Nico. Then Hazel is walking back over to the table with a slip of paper in her hands. “I can’t believe you just did that.”

Hazel holds up the piece of paper, smirking. “And now the question is: are you going to text him?”  
-  
Nico stares at his phone. Will has just texted him back. It’s nothing more than a simple hi and a smiley face, but Nico feels his face heat up, and those stupid butterflies in his stomach won’t calm down. He’d decided to wait until he’d gotten back to his flat before texting. He wouldn’t be able to with Hazel reading over his shoulder.

 _What’s up?_ comes the next text from Will. Nico thinks about typing something stupid like how he’s just sitting on the couch (minus the freaking out about the fact that he’s texting Will), but he decides against it.

 _Texting on the job, Solace?_ He can’t be flirting, Nico thinks. He doesn’t flirt. Jason once told him that he wouldn’t know flirting if someone kissed him. Will’s text comes back after a minute or so. It turns out that Will is in fact texting while working, but he’s being subtle.

 _Oh? Is this Willy’s secret boyfriend?_ Or not, Nico thinks. This is then followed by: dajfdlfadfkjala _sorry._

Nico finds himself smiling. How dare Hazel make him text this cute boy? He quickly types out a response, mildly disappointed in himself for being so eager for Will’s response.  
-  
Now Nico finds himself both texting and talking to Will. Consequently, he’s doing less studying now, more trying to count how many freckles Will has or finding the right word for the exact shade of blue of his eyes. Nico can’t believe how hard he’s fallen. And it’s not even just the physical stuff (which is definitely not hard on the eyes). It’s also everything else.

Nico doesn’t think he’s ever felt so open before with someone else, but with Will, it’s just so easy. Those blue eyes never judge him, and that smile always makes him feel as if he’s dreaming. And then when Nico had had a bad day, Will had offered to buy him lunch at a restaurant nearby. And now Nico’s also falling for Will’s compassionate spirit and lame jokes and addicting laugh.

And then one night Will asks Nico about his dreams for the future, and Nico blurts out something stupid about how he wants Will to move in with him. Because earlier he’d been thinking about having a life with Will, how nice it’d be to go on dates and fall asleep next to Will and come home from work to Will’s smile.

“Yeah?” Will asks. And then Nico snaps out of his daydream.

“Wait. I meant- no, I just.” He pauses, trying to collect his thoughts, but then Will smiles. And it’s hopeless. “I’ve thought about it,” Nico says finally. He chances trying to read Will’s expression, sure that Will’s about to laugh at him. But he just finds that soft smile, a hint of amusement in Will’s eyes.

“It’s a very nice thought,” Will says. “But how about we go on a date first?”

Nico sits there, stunned, for a moment. “I was going to ask you first, Solace.”

“Okay. Ask me,” Will says. It sounds like a challenge, but Nico looks at Will. And he finds the words rolling right off of his tongue.

“Will you go on a date with me?”

Will grins. “I honestly thought you’d never ask. I’d be honored to go on a date with you.”

Nico can’t believe that he’s fallen for someone so ridiculous. (Ridiculously handsome and sweet, he amends.) So even though Will’s aesthetic is bright colors and listening to the top forty and lecturing about the ill effects of fast food, Nico thinks that’s alright. Because maybe things won’t always be his way, but this way could be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are lovely :)


	10. colors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will's never left the walls of his room, but one day that changes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: isolation, implied abuse

All Will wanted in life was color. He had read descriptions of red and blue and yellow and brown. In his mind, he imagined red to be bold and bright, the color of the sun on a hot day. He imagined blue to be wet and sticky, the feeling of the ocean. Yellow and brown were very diverse, he decided. They could be yummy or gross or even just boring. He wasn’t sure what to think of them.

He had grown up in a life absent of color. The walls of his room were white, a color he’d learned to associate with blankness and tedium. Everything was monochromatic (a word he’d learned in his just as black and white books). Everything was blank, stripped of meaning.

He hears the usual clatter of whatever happens outside his door every day. He’s never told what it is; he isn’t even sure if anyone else can hear it. No one mentions it, and he doesn’t know how to ask. He turns back to his pad of paper.

Will had been taught to read; he’d been taught many things. Except for how to communicate. He wasn’t allowed to speak, to make any noise. When he needed something, he was to simply just wait until it was provided. Sometimes it was never provided, in which case, he reasoned it was because he didn’t need it.

Yet, Will still had this thought that he needed to see colors. In books, they were always described in so much detail. He’d asked once, on paper, if he could see colors. The answer he’d been given made sure that he never asked again.

So things continued the same way as they always had. The word for it was routine.

Will woke up when he was instructed to. A clock sat by his bedside, and it beeped when he was supposed to be awake. Soon after this, he was always fed, though he never knew what he was eating. They always covered his eyes. He liked to imagine that it was cake or some other type of bread as people in books always wanted to eat bread or cake.

After eating, he was instructed through a variety of exercises. Someone in a white lab coat would watch him, giving him orders. It was always the same man, Will thought. He was tall and thin and had grey hair. He liked to write on his clipboard with a pen. After exercising, Will was usually left alone. During this time, he’d either read or draw or just sit on his bed and think.

He’d become pretty good at reading and drawing. He’d memorized at least half of the books in his room, and recently, he’d started to draw that man who always made him exercise. The first attempts weren’t good, filled with awkward lines and too much excitement. But, slowly, Will got better until the man had once pointed to Will’s pad of paper, a strange look on his face.

Will didn’t know how long he was allowed to do what he wanted. It was usually stopped when he had to eat again, the same procedure. If he had to use the bathroom, he was to push the button by his door. Then someone would come in, blindfold him, and take him somewhere he could relieve himself. Will thought this was strange. People in books never seemed to go to the bathroom.

After he ate, the man would come back in and look at him. Sometimes he’d touch Will. He always seemed to be looking for something, and Will wanted to know what that was. If he knew, maybe the man would finally be able to find it. Sometimes Will was quizzed on what he read, though he still didn’t know what they were looking for. And after that man left, Will was instructed to brush his teeth and go to bed.  
-  
Nico’s not sure what he expected to find. A lab: with the stereotypical instruments and machines? A prison: with iron bars and dirty conditions? Reyna had briefed him of the possible scenarios, but Nico had kind of tuned her out. He was only new to this case; he’d been on other assignments before. He’d seen things, felt things, heard things. He could handle this.

But he wasn’t expecting this. It was a farmhouse. There were no animals in sight, but the land looked very well kept. The mailbox was empty, and the porch light was off. It was just after noon. Nico glances at Reyna. Jason and Piper were behind her. None of them were quite sure how to approach the situation. What if they had the location wrong?

“I think that Piper should ring the doorbell,” Reyna says.

“Why me?” Reyna shrugs.

“You look the least likely to kill someone on the spot. They might just think you’re lost.” Piper glances at the rest of them. If Nico had an opinion, he’d choose Jason. The man always reminded Nico of a superhero, someone who could do no wrong. And it didn’t hurt that his appearance was easy on the eyes.

“How about both Jason and Piper?” Nico suggests. That sets off another round of debate. In the end, Nico’s idea is decided to be the best idea. Reyna and Nico wait for their signal. The rest of their unit has already surrounded the house, ready as well.

The rest kind of happens in fast-motion. Nico’s never sure how it all happens. He just knows that the signal is given, and then they’re in the house. It’s two to a room, and Reyna’s right behind Nico as he bursts through a door. It takes a moment for his adrenaline to calm down as he surveys the room.

It’s a standard room. There’s a bed and a desk and a nightstand. There’s a clock on the nightstand. There’s a fan on the ceiling. There are tons of papers stacked up against the walls. What’s strange is that there are no windows in what is clearly a bedroom. Everything in the room is either black or white or grey. The walls are covered with drawings and words and smudges. The white carpet is spotless.

“Hello,” he hears Reyna say. “We’re not here to hurt you.” Nico directs his attention to the corner of the room behind the door. There’s a boy there, huddled in the corner. He’s the most colorful thing in the room, Nico thinks, despite his black and white outfit. The boy is holding a pencil, and he’s clearly scared and unsure.

“I’m Reyna,” Reyna says. “And this is Nico.” Nico never gives out personal information, but he’s trusting Reyna with this one. Reyna smiles, crouching down so that she’s looking at the boy in the eyes. “Can you tell us your name?” The boy opens his mouth before quickly shutting it, an action that springs so many questions. He shakes his head.

There’s some chaos in the hallway, but Reyna ignores it. Slowly, Nico crouches down beside Reyna. Most of the cases he’s handled involved younger children or adults. He’d never encountered a teenager before. Children were easier. They always cried, always needed to be reassured or protected. The adults weren’t difficult once Nico gained their trust.

“Are you hungry?” The boy hesitates before nodding. Reyna bumps Nico. “Do you have any food?” Nico nods, pulling out a sleeve of crackers. Reyna gives him a weird look before offering one to the boy. He scoots closer, reaching out to take it. He doesn’t eat it right away, looking at Reyna as if expecting something else. Then he closes his eyes and takes a bite. Nico can feel Reyna sigh.

“Watch him for a minute.” Nico nods. Reyna steps out of the room.

The boy finishes the cracker, opening his eyes. Nico hands him another one. The boy does the same thing. Eyes closed until the last bite. Nico sets the crackers between them, and the boy reaches out to take them. He repeats the same process for each cracker until he’s gone through half of the sleeve.

“You don’t have to eat them all,” Nico says. The boy opens his eyes, and Nico notices how blue they are. “Just if you’re hungry.” The boy nods, setting the cracker down. Nico wonders if he’d have eaten the whole thing just because Nico gave it to him.

Reyna comes back, and it takes some coaxing to get the boy out of the corner. Then it takes even more work to convince him he’s allowed out of the room. “He’s got his eyes closed,” Reyna whispers to Nico. That was a little strange, but Nico wasn’t going to ask about it.

There’s a lot of talk following the discovery of the farmhouse and the boy, and there’s even more talk about what to do about the discovery. Nico always hates this part. He wishes that there was just a clear-cut answer, but he knows that a lot of these situations are delicate. One wrong move and things could take a completely different turn.  
-  
Will wakes up on something soft. He glances to his left to look at the clock, but there isn’t one. He’s not in his bed, in his room. In fact, he doesn’t know where he is. He glances around, taking in the room so different from his. There are things on his wall that he hasn’t drawn, and they don’t look to be white or black. There are windows, too. He glances at the door, wondering if someone will come in. Then he quickly darts to the window, gasping as he looks through it. Then he opens it.

There are so many things that he sees that he’s only read about in books. He can feel the wind, the heat, the wetness of water. He looks for trees and birds and the sun, but it’s too dark to see much farther than where he’s standing. Will feels like he can sit there for the rest of his life, just breathing in the fresh air.  
-  
He’s not honestly sure what’s happening, but he likes it here. Wherever he is. Nico and Reyna tell him that he’s been with them for a week now. They take him places, let him eat food, let him sleep. They don’t make him exercise or wear a blindfold. He gets to try bread and cake, gets to use the bathroom on his own.

Will thinks that he likes going on those long walks with Reyna and Nico. They keep asking him questions that he can’t answer, but they also talk about themselves. It makes it easier to trust them. He doesn’t think he’s ever trusted anyone. Before, he just did as he was told because he had to. Now, he’s allowed to say no (though he’s still scared to say no too much).

And he sees colors. So many colors. He cried the first time he saw colors, and Reyna thought he was hurt. They’re so bright and beautiful and lovely and living. He tries to identify which color is which, but there are so many, he doesn’t think he has enough words for all of them. But that’s okay.  
-  
“We can’t do anything until we have Will’s word,” Reyna says. “Until then, we don’t have anything to compare their word to.” Nico glances over at Will. He’s out on their balcony, reading.

“Well, we’ve learned that he’s been locked in that room for nineteen years. I think it’s safe to say that it might be a while before we get him to say anything.” Reyna sighs. “For now, I think he’s making great progress, though.” It’d been just over a month since they’d rescued Will from that farmhouse. In that time, they’d managed to establish trust, which Nico thought was the first step.

He’d started to like Will. The boy held such child-like wonder for everything he encountered. He’d laid in the grass for a solid hour the first time they’d taken him to the park. In that hour, he’d pointed at so many things, tears streaming down his face. And it was all Nico could do to just talk to him.

By now, Will had read every single book in their apartment. Reyna had given up on trying to get Will not to write on the walls. He hadn’t looked at her for a day after she’d confronted him. They compromised that as long as he only drew on his walls, it was okay. And he was a great artist, though Nico supposed dedicating nineteen years to anything would make someone at least decent.

And then he’d spoken his first word. (Nico assumed it was his first word. Record had it that his guardians hadn’t let him speak.) Nico had been fixing breakfast that morning, and Will had come into the kitchen. He’d eaten his eggs as he did every morning before looking at Nico. And then he’d said Nico’s name. It had taken a few tries for Nico to understand him, but once he did, it was clear what he’d said.

Will had clapped, clearly pleased with himself. And Nico had smiled, because smiling seemed to make Will smile. And Nico loved Will’s smile.  
-  
Will liked living with Reyna and Nico. He’d been there for a few months, and he’d learned so much. He could now choose what he wanted for breakfast. He was allowed to go outside whenever he wanted (as long as the sun was out), and he could say words.

There had been some bad times, though. Like when Reyna and Nico and some other people had asked him about his black and white room. And what had happened in there. After being with Nico and Reyna, Will didn’t like thinking about his old room. He liked his new room better, with its blue walls and pink bedspread and brown furniture. He liked this world of color so much better, and he was afraid that if he gave them what they wanted, they’d put him back in that old black and white room.

“Not go back,” Will mumbles after all of the people have gone, and it’s just Nico and him.

Nico’s face softens, and he smiles at Will. Will likes it when Nico smiles. it makes him look more friendly, though Will knows Nico’s friendly even without the smile. “We won’t make you go back, Will,” he says. “We just want to try and understand what you’ve been through. We want to help you. Make your life better.”

Will nods. It takes him a few days before he’s ready to tell Nico what happened to him, though he doubts he really knows what was happening. Nico reads what Will wrote, occasionally looking at Will when he reads something. Will just sits there, munching on a carrot. He feels nervous, something he’s never really felt before here.

“Thank you, Will,” Nico says when he’s done reading it. “Is it okay if I show this to other people?” Will nods. That’s something he likes about here. They always ask him stuff. He doesn’t just have to do stuff.

“Yes,” Will says. He smiles. He’s allowed to speak now. (Sometimes he forgets.) Nico smiles back at him.  
-  
To say the least, Nico was slightly horrified after reading Will’s account. In general, it was so much more mild than most of the cases he’d seen, but there was something about it that made him angry. There was no good explanation for why a boy should be locked up in a room for his whole life. There were gaps in Will’s story, and that also made Nico angry. Will didn’t know what colors were; he wasn’t allowed to speak; he didn’t even know what he was eating or where the bathroom was located.

The office had accepted Will’s story, and it was currently being analyzed down to the last word. Will seemed to have a good memory, if the random passages of novels printed along the edges said anything.

The days ran smoothly for the most part. Will was adjusting to his new life, and Reyna and Nico were working hard to figure out the next step. It seemed logical that someone would have to take care of Will until he was able to take care of himself. It wasn’t that he was smart; he just didn’t understand how things worked. Besides, Nico and Will had become friends, and Nico wasn’t sure what would happen if he had to say goodbye to Will.

“You know, you aren’t supposed to get attached to them,” Reyna says. Nico nods. He knows, and he usually doesn’t. There’s just something about Will, though. “I understand that this is a special case, but we really can’t let him stay here forever.” Will was borrowing Reyna’s room, and she was living with Jason and Piper for the moment. The arrangement had been made when it was clear that Will trusted Nico the most.

“What will happen to him, then?” Nico asks. Reyna shrugs. Nico didn’t want to think about it.  
-  
Will’s moving. Moving means that he’s changing rooms. He’ll no longer sleep in the room with the blue walls. Though Nico tells him that he can paint his walls any color he wants. Will wants yellow walls, like the sun. Like his hair. He really likes the color yellow. It makes him feel good.

Will’s new room is across the hall from his old room. But there are also other rooms. He has his own kitchen where he can cook his own food, and there’s his own bathroom. He’s even got a living room. Will thinks it’ll be kind of lonely to live by himself again, but he’s got friends now. So maybe it won’t be so bad.

“And we’ll still have dinner together on Fridays,” Reyna is saying. She smiles at him as he sorts his books out. They’ve even got him a bookshelf for all of his books. He has so many. “And you’re welcome to visit us anytime you want. Except for when you have to be at work.”

Work is another new thing. He’s had a job for two months now. He works at a bookstore downtown. There, he gets to read so many new books. And he gets to meet other people who also love to read books. He’s already made two more friends there.

“Hey,” Nico says. Will smiles.

“Can I hug you?” Will asks. He’s learned that Nico doesn’t really like to be touched, but he’ll make exceptions. Will is one of those exceptions. Nico nods, smiling, and Will gives him a hug. He thinks it’s kind of funny that Nico wears only dark colors, mostly black, and Will loves so many bright colors. But he also loves Nico, he thinks. He’s still learning about love and friendship. Books don’t know everything, he’s also learning.

“So, like your new place?” Will nods. They had painted it last week, and now they were moving his stuff in.  
“I think I’ll like it here,” Will says. Nico nods. He seems a little sad, Will thinks, but he’s not sure why. “Are you going to miss me?”

Nico shrugs. “I mean, you’re only just across the hall.” But Will thinks he’ll miss Nico, even if he’s just across the hall. Things will be different now that they both have jobs and their own places to live. But maybe that’s what friends do. After all, they each have their own lives.

And now that Will’s seen color, he has so many other dreams that he wants to see happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was pretty eh. I was thinking of just scrapping the whole thing and rewriting it, but there it is.  
> I might revisit this later.


	11. sometimes we break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Death is just a part of life, but that doesn’t make it easier to deal with.

Nico was just getting into bed when he heard the front door unlock. He heard familiar footsteps and smiles. Will had been working a lot of odd shifts lately, and Nico had hardly seen him all week. But now he was finally home, and Nico would finally be able to cuddle his boyfriend to sleep.

It takes a few minutes for Will to make it to the bedroom. Nico had left a note out that dinner was in the fridge, and he assumed that Will was probably hungry. He hears the microwave start as the footsteps get closer to the bedroom.

“Hey,” Will says softly. Nico thinks he looks exhausted, and it wouldn’t surprise him. All of his shifts lately had been at least ten hours long, only time for a small nap and some real food before he was back to work again. “I didn’t think you’d be up still.”

Nico shrugs. It wasn’t too late, and he was more of a night person. (And he’d also lost track of the time as he’d been catching up on some shows.)

Will sighs as he sits down, leaning over to kiss Nico’s cheek. Nico could feel some stubble lining Will’s jawline, another consequence of not being home too often. He kisses Will while he takes off his shoes, relaxing into Nico’s touch.

“I’ve missed you,” Nico says. Will hums.

“I’ve got this weekend off,” Will says. Nico smiles. The weekend is three days away, and Nico can’t wait to just spend some time with Will. “I was thinking we could go get that ice cream that you really like. Or go hiking.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Nico says. The microwave beeps, and Will gets up to get his food. Nico follows him, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He makes small talk while Will eats, just enjoying his boyfriend’s company.

By the time Will has finished eating, his eyelids are drooping heavily. Nico smiles, gently guiding Will to brush his teeth. Then he helps Will into his pjs and into bed. Will sighs as Nico kisses him softly.

“I love you, Nico,” he mumbles. Nico laughs. Will’s never been one for staying up late. Nico pulls the blankets over them, giving Will one last kiss for the night.

“I love you, Will.”  
-  
Nico’s chopping vegetables when he hears the front door open. Which is strange because Will shouldn’t be getting home until after dinner.

“Will?” Nico calls. He hears shuffling footsteps, and then Will is standing there. His eyes are red and puffy, and he’s shaking. Nico quickly puts down his knife, going over to take Will’s hand. “Hey, sunshine,” he says softly.

“I couldn’t do it,” Will says. “I couldn’t save them.” He holds up his hands like they say everything, but Nico understands. He gently guides Will over to the couch. And then Will’s sobbing. Nico lets him cry, knowing it’s good to let the pain and frustration out. He brushes back Will’s hair and rubs his back.

“It’s not your fault, Will. It’s never your fault,” he says. It’s a burden being a demigod. They have so much power over the world, and still, the world has that much more power over them. They can stop monsters from rising and the earth from splitting, but they can’t always stop death. And that’s something they’ve all had to learn the hard way.

“She was just so young. And her parents- gods, I couldn’t even tell them.” Will sniffles, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. It’s kind of gross, but Nico lets it slide. “And what good does that make me?” Will asks. “I was born for healing. I could have saved her. I should have.”

They’ve talked about this before, the limit of their abilities. Will’s overdone himself before, and that had scared Nico more than anything. His nightmares had always been filled with horrific battles or quests gone wrong. He’d never imagined Will just simply handing his life over, for the sake of another life. And while Nico understands the need to heal and to save, he also now understands the fragile cycle of life and death. He’s seen it so many times.

“You did everything you could have, Will. You can’t sacrifice yourself to save someone else.” And he knows that’s one of the hardest lessons Will will have to learn. Because it’s true. Death is death. One life for another is still death.

Will takes a deep breath, nuzzling into the crook between Nico’s neck and shoulder. He places a soft kiss on Nico’s collar bone. “I wanted to,” Will says. “Because she deserves so much.” Will’s endless capacity for compassion and love was one of the things Nico had fallen in love with. But there had to be a balance.

“But I didn’t because I thought of you,” Will goes on. “I knew the minute she was wheeled into that room that her chances were low, but I still tried. And maybe I could have saved her, but maybe I’d’ve lost something, too.” Nico hums.

He doesn’t pretend to fully understand the delicate balance of life, but he’s learning to accept it.

“You’ve saves so many people, Will. And sometimes it’s important to give ourselves a little care.” Will nods. It’s not a perfect fix, and Nico doesn’t have all of the words that Will needs to hear. But they have each other, and they’ll be able to get through this.

“Shower?” Will asks, and Nico smiles.

He gets the water running while Will undresses. When they’d first started dating, Nico would have never thought they’d be here. Living in their own apartment, having their own jobs outside of being a demigod, taking showers together. He smiles when Will steps in behind him.

They don’t speak. Nico just silently washes Will’s hair, running the soft sponge over Will’s freckled skin. It’s intimate in a way that sex can be, but it’s also different. It’s not passion and heat and skin against skin. Instead, it’s affection and gentle touches and knowing it’s okay to be vulnerable sometimes.

Will turns to wash Nico’s hair, but Nico shakes his head. It’s about Will tonight. Will nods, leaning in for another kiss. Nico finishes washing Will’s hair, kissing each of Will’s shoulders. They stand there, underneath the hot water, for another minute or so. Then the water’s off, and Nico’s drying Will off with a towel.

They get into their pajamas after brushing their teeth. And then they’re climbing into bed. Nico takes the big spoon tonight, knowing that Will just needs to be held and reassured right now. He wraps his arms around Will, tucking his head protectively over Will’s. He feels Will’s hands clutching at his shirt.

“I’m proud of you,” Nico says. Because he is. Will’s saved so many lives, both in camp and at the hospital. “I’m so proud of my amazing, sweet, loving boyfriend.” He punctuates each adjective with a kiss, and he hears Will giggle.

“And I’m proud of my stubborn, strong, adorable boyfriend,” Will whispers back. He gives Nico a soft kiss. “Can you sing something?”

Nico nods, holding Will just a little closer. He’s warm and relaxed from the shower, his damp curls tickling Nico’s chin just a little. Nico hums a few bars of a children’s song he knows from his childhood before singing softly. He feels Will’s breaths evening out until they’re soft snores. He finishes the verse he’s on before kissing Will’s forehead.

“Good night, sunshine,” he whispers. “I’ll always love you.”

And he’s not sure if he’s imagining it or not, but he thinks he hears a soft “I love you” back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know they completely skipped dinner. (It just didn’t fit into the storyline.)


	12. falling for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico finds himself falling for his roommate.

Nico loved words. He loved how something as simple as a black mark on a piece of paper could convey so much. Each word had multiple meanings, so much history, so much life. To him, words almost seemed like little beings. If only they could talk, Nico thought.

The only problem with loving words was that he sometimes had trouble reading them. Sometimes the letters would switch themselves around on him, and he’d have a completely different word than he was supposed to. It didn’t help that he was bilingual. Sometimes he’d sit there, trying to wrack his brain for just one single word in either English or Italian that looked like what he saw on the page. Sometimes it took him a few minutes to realize that the letters had switched themselves around again.

He’s sitting at his desk, glasses sliding down his nose, trying to do his English homework. English was one of Nico’s favorite subjects, and he was hoping to get a major in English. His secret hopes were to become an author. His less secret hopes were to maybe become a traveling journalist. Either way, he had to pass his intro English class.

His roommate is laying on his bed, his earbuds in. It was one of the rare times that Nico saw Will just relaxing. It seemed that every time he’d seen Will, he was either studying or at a club meeting or in class. Nico wasn’t even sure if Will ate or slept or when he even had the time to. (Well, he was sure Will ate. Food disappeared out of their shared fridge at a kind of alarming rate.)

Nico sighs. He’d been trying to read the collection of short stories that had been assigned, but after last night’s late study session and being in class all day, Nico was a bit too tired to focus. And, consequently, the letters flew around however they liked. Nico puts his book down, sighing again when this causes his pencil and highlighter to fall to the floor.

“You okay down there?” comes Will’s voice. It’s just a bit loud, probably because Will’s listening to music.

“I’m fine. Just taking a break.” Will sits up, his earbuds falling out.

“You want to get food?” Will asks. “I noticed you hadn’t eaten yet. I mean, if you want to,” Will adds.  
Nico shrugs. He hadn’t realized how late it’d gotten, and he was sure food would help his focus problem. Plus, he should probably get out a little. (As Will had reminded him several times, fresh air was good for him.) Will smiles, hopping down from his bed. He doesn’t do much to get ready other than throw on a different shirt and retie his shoes.

They go to the college cafeteria because they’re both cheap, and the food isn’t usually too bad. Nico feels kind of self-conscious eating in front of his roommate. While they’ve lived together for two months, they hadn’t really spoken much. Most of their conversations included bickering and Will lecturing on the importance of this or that. Most of their conversations were initiated by Will.

“So, um,” Will says now. Nico finds it kind of funny that the ever-social Will is at a loss for words. “Come here often?” Will finally manages, cracking a lopsided smile.

“Yeah, you?” Nico responds, straight-faced. Will grins.

“I don’t think I’ve ever asked you. What are you majoring in?” And that sets off an easy conversation. One that’s nicer than every single conversation they’ve ever had. Nico finds out that Will is pre-med, which doesn’t surprise him. He should have known the minute Will started lecturing him about Vitamin D and the effects of staying indoors too long.

“Wait. You have how many siblings?” Nico asks, breaking his facade of not being interested.

Will laughs. “Well, only about two are actually related to me. The others are half-siblings, most I haven’t even met.” Nico still thinks it’s outrageous that someone has more than three siblings. “So, I guess about five siblings? My dad’s not too good at commitment. I knew a girl once who had seven, all related.”

Nico doesn’t think he could imagine. He only has two sisters. Hazel was still in high school, while Bianca would be graduating this coming year. Will goes on to describe his family dynamic, something that Nico would classify between chaotic and homey.

“Sounds nice,” Nico says. “My mother died when I was little, so my dad remarried.” Nico wonders if it’s worse to have had a mother that loved and cared for you and then died or have a father who could barely even remember which child had come from which mother. He decides on the latter.

They walk back to their room later that night, after the cafeteria staff flashed the lights to tell the students that they were closing. Will complains about the cold, even though it’s September, rubbing his hands together to try and create friction. Nico has the odd thought to reach out and hold Will’s hand, but he stuffs his own hands in his pockets, ignoring the thought. If Will is cold, that’s Will’s problem.  
-  
They make a habit of it. Every time one of them looks stressed or needs a break, they go someplace to eat. Once, when they’d both eaten recently, they’d decided to go off campus and walk around. They find themselves in a coffee shop when they get too tired of walking around.

“Want to get some dinner here?” Nico asks.

Will nods. “Yes, please. I’m hungry.” Nico rolls his eyes. Will’s always hungry. Nico figures it’s because of all of his running around. Plus, Will exercises in his spare time. He’s tried to get Nico to go along with him, but Nico’s politely refused each time. They give their orders and find a place to sit.

“So, any progress on that paper?” Will asks. They’d ended up at the cafeteria twice this week because of Nico’s paper. It wasn’t a hard assignment, but bouts of insomnia and lack of focus made it tricky.

Nico shakes his head. “I can’t seem to get a handle on the reading material that I need for it.” Will nods. He sips at his hot chocolate, his gaze occasionally sliding to the windows.

“Maybe I could help?” Will says. “You said you have dyslexia, right?” Nico nods. “I could read the material to you, if you wanted. You mentioned once that audiobooks worked for you.” Audiobooks had been Bianca’s idea. It was too bad that not everything came in an audiobook, and the text to speech program on Nico’s computer sucked.

“I mean, if you don’t mind,” Nico says. “I don’t want to have you do homework that isn’t even yours.”

Will shrugs. “It’d be a nice break from medical texts and math equations. I like reading, but I haven’t had much time outside of schoolwork.”  
-  
At first, it’s awkward. Nico’s hunched over his laptop at his desk. Will’s at his own desk. Nico keeps asking Will to repeat something because he didn’t hear it or understand it. They’re sitting too far away for Nico to try and follow along so he can take notes. Will’s voice gets scratchy when he reads too loud for a while.

The next time they try, they end up sitting shoulder to shoulder. Will trips over a few words, but it’s nothing compared what Nico had been doing. Nico types his notes as Will reads, Will occasionally correcting a spelling here or there.

Nico likes Will’s voice. When they’re not just talking, Will’s voice is soft and warm. Nico doesn’t think he could ever get tired of hearing Will read his homework assignments. When Will stops, Nico startles. Will grins at him, asking if he needed to repeat anything or spell anything. Nico’s tempted to ask him to read the entire thing again, just so he can listen, but he doesn’t.  
-  
Fall break comes up, but neither of them are going home. Will’s family doesn’t have the means to buy a plane ticket, and Nico’s family isn’t home for visiting. He does get to catch up with his high school friends, though.

They’re sitting at a restaurant, all of Nico’s friends from high school and Will. It feels kind of weird, like somehow Nico’s gone back in time to high school. (Not that he’d ever want to, of course.) Except for Will, who is currently laughing at some reenactment of Jason and Percy’s.

“Oh, you should have seen Nico. His face was priceless!” Percy says, laughing. Jason attempts a poor imitation of Nico’s face. Nico remembers that day. It’d been Spirit Week, a dreaded occasion that happened every year. But junior year, Nico had lost a bet. And, consequently, he’d had to participate in Spirit Week. Only, he’d gotten his days mixed up and worn his Halloween costume on pajama day. Which had resulted in Nico skipping school.

“I think that’s enough stories about me,” Nico says when Piper attempts to start the fourth embarrassing Nico story.

“Aw, c’mon. They’re so good,” Percy whines. Nico leans over the table to flick him. When they get their food, the talking dies down, and Nico’s so relieved. He’s missed his friends, but they can be a little much.

“So, Will, how’d you meet Nico?” Frank asks. It slipped Nico’s mind to even introduce Will until Annabeth had asked who the blond that was following Nico around was.

“We’re roommates,” Will says, glancing at Nico. He can’t quite read Will’s face to know if Will is upset that Nico never told his friends about him or if he’s just asking how much he should be telling.

“Does he talk in his sleep?” Jason asks. Nico groans. It’d been a running argument ever since they’d had a sleepover freshman year. “We kind of have a bet going on,” Piper adds.

Will glances at Nico again. “I mean, I haven’t heard him talking in his sleep. Though, we kind of sleep at different times. He usually sleeps while I’m in class.” Which was true. Will, ever the morning person, was up at six-thirty and usually in bed by eleven. Nico liked to stay up late, wake up late.

Lunch goes relatively smoothly. Nico gets a chance to bring up an embarrassing Jason story, which is an accomplishment as embarrassing Jason was hard. Will seems to get along well with Nico’s friends, and Nico’s friends seem to like Will. (Though, from Nico’s experience, who didn’t? Will seemed to make friends just by existing.)

“We should do this more,” Annabeth says as they’re leaving. “It’s always nice to see Nico out of his room.” She grins at him. Nico rolls his eyes. Will’s walked ahead of them, talking to Piper about animal cruelty or something.

“I think he’s cute,” Hazel says, coming up on Nico’s other shoulder. “You should definitely go for it.” Nico’s cheeks redden as he tries to think of a way of denying it.

“And I think he likes you, too,” Annabeth adds. “He kept looking at you, and he laughed at your lame jokes.” She pokes his arm to show she’s teasing. “But, really. You should go for it.”

“We’re just friends,” Nico says. “Will’s just overly friendly with everyone he meets. He’s probably like this with everyone.”

“Is he?” Hazel asks. “He’s not flirting with Piper. And everyone flirts with Piper.” Nico glances over at his two friends. He couldn’t tell what was happening. They were either in a heated debate or having a staring contest.

“That could just mean he’s gay. Doesn’t mean he likes me,” Nico reasons. Annabeth rolls her eyes, sighing.

“Whatever, Nico. But when you two are dating, I’m going to say I told you so.”  
-  
Nico makes it through midterms, struggling only a little when he finds himself with too little sleep and too little coffee. Will’s music helps to keep him awake, along with Will’s frenzied muttering as he studies bones and ligaments and mathematic formulas all evening.

“I think we should celebrate,” Will says a week after midterms. Nico just looks at him. While he doesn’t have much homework, he’s decided that he’s going to dedicate his precious free time to napping. “Like, food and everything.”

“I’ve got homework, Solace,” Nico says. Will’s smile doesn’t falter.

“So do I. So how about this weekend?” He pauses. “And we don’t even have to leave. I can order take-out, and we can watch movies or whatever it is that you think is fun.” Nico sighs, knowing Will won’t give up. Once he’s got an idea, there’s a slim chance of him forgetting.

“Okay. This weekend. You buy the food. I’ll find a good movie or something.” Will grins.

“No horror stuff. I hate all the blood and guts.” Will shivers for effect. Nico rolls his eyes. He’s seen Will looking at pictures of surgeries and diseases and injuries. He finds it ironic that Will can’t handle the gore of horror movies, but he can grin in the face of actual blood and declare it not a big deal.

That weekend, Will pickups the Chinese food, while Nico tries to find a movie he thinks they’ll both like. He scrolls through his Netflix. He doesn’t watch a lot of horror movies like Will thinks he does. Nico just watches whatever he thinks looks good.

“I’m home!” Will calls out. He brings the food over to Nico’s bed. “Find something good? Oh! That’s a good movie,” Will says. Nico glances at the screen. He hadn’t seen it before, but it was in his recommendations. He shrugs, clicking on it.

It takes a little bit of maneuvering for them to get comfortable. While they’re more comfortable around each other, they’ve never sat this close before. Their backs are against the wall, their legs dangling off the edge of the bed. Nico’s computer sits on their legs. Will’s hunched over his food, trying not to spill rice on Nico’s bed.

Nico finds himself watching Will’s reactions just as much as he watches the movie. He’s always known that Will was expressive, but it’s fun watching him react to the movie. He gasps and holds his breath. He starts sniffling during the final battle, and he’s flat out crying at the end. He sniffles and wipes his nose with a napkin.

“That’s such a great movie,” Will says. Nico resists the urge to laugh, not because it’s funny, but because it’s so Will. “It gets me every time.” Will sighs, leaning his head against Nico’s. Nico, who’d been finishing up his dinner, pauses. Will’s weight against Nico’s side isn't an unpleasant thing. In fact, it’s kind of nice. Will is warm and comforting, and he smells like sunshine and hand sanitizer and Chinese food.

Will sniffles again, and Nico realizes how close they’re sitting. They’re practically connected from head to toe, if Nico’s legs were just a little longer. He feels Will relax against him, his breathing soft.

“Thanks for celebrating with me,” Will says. He sounds exhausted, and Nico remembers waking up to Will studying every day this week. “I like hanging out with you.” Will yawns, wiping his nose again. It should be gross, but Nico just finds it kind of endearing.

“You should go to bed, Will,” Nico says softly. “You’re already falling asleep on me.”

“You’re comfortable,” Will mumbles before realizing what he’s said. Then he’s cleaning up his food, getting off of Nico’s bed, and disappearing into the bathroom to shower and change into his pjs. By the time he’s done, Nico’s already dressed and gotten ready for bed. It’s way earlier than he usually goes to bed, but he feels warm and fuzzy right now. And he wants to take advantage of that.  
-  
“You haven’t asked him out yet?” Annabeth asks. Nico’s home for Thanksgiving break, a holiday that his family isn’t really celebrating this year. Bianca was spending the holiday with her boyfriend, and Nico’s father wasn’t really one for celebrating holidays. So Nico’s friends decided to have a Thanks-for-friends-giving celebration. (Percy came up with the name.)

“Um, no?” Nico says. “Why would I have?”

Piper sighs, rolling her eyes. Even Frank looks disappointed, and he’s usually on Nico’s side. “Because you like him? And he likes you? I think that most people understand that concept.”

Nico just focuses on filling his plate with mashed potatoes and casserole. He didn’t know what was in them, but Percy’s mom was the best cook ever. Then he takes a bite, so he doesn’t have to answer right away.

“Maybe Nico just needs a good opportunity?” Frank suggests. “Like, the time hasn’t been right.”

“They share a room. Like, every day. Nico’s just stalling,” Hazel says.

“You could give him a Christmas present,” Piper suggests. “That’d be cute.”

“Or you could just find some mistletoe and kiss him,” Percy adds.

“Or you could just tell him,” Annabeth says. Nico sighs.

“How are you guys so sure he likes me?” Annabeth and Piper raise their eyebrows, looking at him. Even Jason looks unimpressed.

“Who’ve you been texting for the last three days?” Piper asks. “Because I know it’s not Bianca.” As if on cue, his phone buzzes. He hopes that no one else hears it.

“What if I have other friends? Better friends that don’t try to hack into my love life,” Nico says.

“Ooh,” Piper says. “You’re in denial. You just said you had a love life.” Nico just takes another bite of potatoes. He and Will had been texting every day. He isn’t sure why, but he likes texting Will. Will always sends him pictures of his dog or pictures of whatever he’s eating. And Nico just sends him pictures of his friends, pictures of his town. Sometimes they text actual words, but Nico’s never been good at responding.

“Earth to Nico,” Jason says. He steals a bite of Nico’s mashed potatoes. “So, was that Will?”

Nico grumbles, pulling out his phone. Will’s sent him a short video of his family saying hi. The video ends with Will’s blurry face as there’d been a crash from the kitchen. As he’s watching the video, he gets a text from Will saying that the dog just tried to eat one of their casseroles.

“We should send him a video back,” Hazel says. “It’d be nice.” Nico doesn’t even try to stop them from taking his phone and making a quick video. When it’s his turn, he just smiles and waves.

“We promise we’ll stop bugging you, Nico, if you just say something to him. He’s not going to reject you,” Piper says. “But if he does, we’ll be there in a heartbeat to defend your honor.”

Nico sighs. “Fine.”  
-  
So now, between studying and sleeping and eating, Nico is trying to figure out if Will likes him back. He’s got until Christmas break, just a few weeks. But he’s also got final exams approaching, and so does Will. Which means he hardly sees Will. He’s always at the library or busy studying in their room. At least Will’s still around if Nico needs something read to him.

“Hey.” Will’s lying on his bed, his shoes still on, a frown on his face. He looks exhausted, dark circles underneath his eyes, his curls drooping. Part of it could be the cold. Will had cursed the cold each morning as he bundled up like he was going out into the Arctic.

Will mumbles a reply, sitting up. He wraps himself in a blanket, watching Nico. Then he plops back onto his bed with a sigh.

“Are you okay?” Nico asks. Will mumbles something again. “Hot chocolate?” He offers his mug to Will who takes it. Will takes a few sips, handing the mug back. Nico hesitates before taking a sip. He doesn’t think about the fact that Will’s mouth had just been there.

“Thanks.” There’s a pause. “I feel like the cold is sucking the life out of me,” Will says.

“Could be finals,” Nico says. Will cracks a small smile. “C’mon. Let’s do something. We’ve been studying all week. We should relax a little.” It was a Saturday night, and Nico felt restless. It might’ve had something to do with his adorably sluggish roommate or the fact that Nico couldn’t stop thinking about what it’d be like to hold Will’s hand.

“I don’t wanna move,” Will whines. Nico rolls his eyes.

“Fine. I’ll go get pizza, and you figure out what you want to do that’s not studying.” He hears Will grumble as he leaves. It feels weird to take charge. Usually, Will’s the one who’s planning and bugging Nico to do something. Nico thinks that maybe he’s just missed Will’s company. Though they’ve been studying just feet from each other, it felt like they weren’t even in the same room.

When Nico gets back, the heat has been cranked up, and Will’s made two mugs of hot chocolate. He shows them off proudly, dumping a handful of marshmallows into his mug. Then Will’s happily digging into the pizza. He’s halfway through his second piece before Nico realizes how close they’re sitting. Will had scooted closer to be warm, and now, if Nico moved just an inch, Will would be able to put his arm around Nico’s shoulders.

“Did you think of something to do?” Nico asks. Will shrugs.

“I think we should move somewhere warmer.” Nico smiles. “Just magically transport our dorm to the beach or something.”

“Something that doesn’t involve magic or rebelling against the cold,” Nico adds.

Will shrugs again. “We could watch a movie. Or I’ve got cards.” Will yawns, rambling on.

“A movie sounds good.” Will beams.

“And I’ve got popcorn.” He hurries to put the bag into the microwave, mumbling something about chemical butter before finishing off his pizza. “Now, what movie?”

Nico pulls up his Netflix as they get comfortable in Nico’s bed again. Will huddles close to Nico, his Ninja Turtles blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Nico smiles when he sees Will’s matching fuzzy socks. Will’s just a bit too close, but Nico doesn’t really mind. Will’s warmth is nice.

“Of course you’d choose this movie,” Will says, but he doesn’t complain. In fact, Nico hears him humming along to the songs. Halfway through the movie, Nico feels something heavy on his shoulder, and he turns his head just slightly, only to be met with blond curls. By the time the movie’s over, the humming has stopped, replaced by a light snore all too familiar.

Nico’s not sure what to do now. It’s clear that Will’s just fallen asleep on him. Nico thinks about texting one of his friends, but they’ll just tell him to snuggle. Nico sighs. He decides to watch another movie. He turns the volume down so he doesn’t wake Will, though Will’s a pretty heavy sleeper. Then he settles in to watch the movie.  
-  
Nico wakes up with a crick in his neck, and something warm laying over his stomach. At first, he panics, thinking he overslept for classes. Then he panics because there’s something lying on him. Then he panics because he realizes it’s Will. Will’s snuggled close to him, his curls tickling Nico’s neck. His freckled arm is slung over Nico’s stomach. Will’s breath comes out in warm puffs. Nico isn’t sure what to do.

He feels around for his phone, remembering falling asleep with it close by. He finds it, checking the time. It’s almost ten-thirty. Part of Nico is surprised that Will’s slept in this long. The other part is trying to figure out if Nico should wake him up or not. Will doesn’t set his alarm on the weekends, unless he has something. But since there’s been no alarm, Nico figures Will’s got nothing better to do than sleep on Nico’s numb shoulder.

Nico shifts, trying to carefully extract himself out from underneath Will. Will shifts, and he freezes. Then Will snuggles closer to Nico, sighing. Nico finds himself sighing as well, though he’s not sure if he’s annoyed or pleased. After trying a few more times, Nico decides to just pretend to be asleep. He’ll let Will deal with getting himself off of Nico.

Just as soon as he’s thought this, Will mumbles something into his neck. Then Will is flipping over, finally getting off of Nico’s arm. Then he feels Will freeze. All would have been good if Will had been slightly less sleepy, slightly less clumsy. But as luck would have it, he wasn’t. Nico opens his eyes just as Will is crawling over him, but Will’s foot gets caught in his blanket. And then Nico’s trying to catch Will from either falling on him or falling off of the bed. Which results in both of them falling off of the bed. Nico hears a string of rare curses from Will before he’s now the one on Will’s arm.

“Morning,” Will whispers. “I see you’ve fallen for me.” He’s blushing, and Nico would find that cute if he wasn’t completely embarrassed to have just landed on Will’s chest. “Sorry if I woke you up,” Will adds. He pauses. “And sorry for sleeping on you.” Now Nico’s blushing.

He gets up, untangling himself from the blanket. “It’s fine. I should probably be getting up anyway.” Will nods, running a hand through his hair.

“Hey, there’s this Christmas thing going on in town. If you wanted to go,” Will says. He’s rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, pulling on a few more layers.

“What kind of Christmas thing?” Nico asks.

“I’m not completely sure. But it’s around three today. The thing advertised hot chocolate and fun.” Normally, Nico would be wary of going to such a thing, but he also doesn’t normally wake up with cute boys sleeping on him. He’s taking a liking to Will, he’ll admit. But that doesn’t mean he wants to date Will, or hold his hand, or sleep next to him on purpose.

“Sure. I’ll go to this Christmas thing with you,” Nico says. Will beams, and Nico finds himself smiling.  
-  
The Christmas thing, it turns out, is a lot of things. There’s ice skating and sleigh rides and hot chocolate and Santa Claus. There’s also mistletoe everywhere and stations where you can decorate your own mini-Christmas tree. Will grabs his hand, pulling him towards the last activity.  
“Look, Nico! It’s a baby tree!” Will insists that Nico helps, because it’s his tree, too. So Nico winds some tinsel around the small tree. He’s not even sure if the tree is real, but he doesn’t point this out to Will who is carefully hanging plastic ornaments on the branches. “Now we just need a star!” Will lets Nico choose the star. “It’s so beautiful,” Will says, and Nico’s not sure if Will’s going to cry over the tree or not.

“Oh, do you want to go on a sleigh ride?” Nico shrugs. The ride is free, and there are other people on the ride as well. He and Will sit next to each other, Will immediately asking a little kid next to him what he asked Santa for. The little kid smiles as he tells Will about his Christmas list. Nico just watches the town go by.

“You two are cute together,” a lady across from Nico says. Nico feels himself redden. “I mean, I don’t mean to assume,” she adds.

“It’s fine,” Nico says, smiling. “We’re just friends, though.”

The lady gives him a smile, winking. Nico chooses to pretend that the wink didn’t happen.

After the sleigh ride, Will’s freezing, so they get hot chocolate. “Care to indulge me in one last thing?” Will asks. Nico shrugs. “Walk through Winter Wonderland with me?” Nico can’t help smiling as Will offers him his arm. He takes it (because Will offered).

It’s a little cloudy, which is nice because it makes the lights easier to see. There’s some snow on the ground, and Will hums Christmas carols as they walk through the little park. The walk isn’t too long, and they complete the journey in fifteen minutes. Nico finds himself wishing it were longer, if only so he could hold Will’s hand a little longer.

“Do you want to eat?” Nico asks. Will nods. They end up in a cozy Italian place. The smell of garlic is heavy in the air, and Will chooses a place to sit by the fireplace.

“I haven’t had Italian in forever,” Will says, his eyes scanning the menu. In this light, with everything soft orange and yellow and red, Will’s eyes seem so much bluer. Nico catches himself staring at Will when the waiter comes by to take their order. He orders the first thing he can think of, aware of Will’s eyes on him.

“Today’s been a good day,” Will says. Nico nods. Today had been perfect. “We should do this more often.” Nico smiles. He feels like the atmosphere is getting to him. It’s warm and cozy and homey, and he didn’t have to think too hard to pretend that this was a date.

“Are you straight?” Nico blurts out. Will, to his credit, doesn’t laugh.

“If you’re asking if I like girls, I do,” Will says, smiling. Nico feels his heart sink. “But I also happen to like guys. One guy in particular, really.”

“Yeah?” Nico asks, not quite believing what he’s hearing.

“Yeah,” Will says softly. “What about you?”

Nico laughs. “Only guys. And, I happen to like one guy in particular as well.” He’s taking chances, he knows, but he has to know.

Will smiles, practically glowing. “Forgive me if I’m wrong,” Will starts, “but, will you go on a date with me? I hear this Italian place is pretty good.”

Nico resists the urge to roll his eyes. Then he remembers he has to respond. “Yeah, I will,” he breathes.

Will beams, brightening even more if that’s possible. “Gods, I’m so happy. I kind of thought maybe I was reading this wrong. And Nico’s laughing again, because this whole thing has been so ridiculous.

Later, after they’ve eaten, and they’re back in their room, cuddled together (on Nico’s bed once again). Will’s head is on Nico’s shoulder, and Nico is playing with Will’s curls. They both have garlic on their breaths, and it’d be gross if it weren’t them. Will suddenly opens his eyes, blue searching for brown.

“May I kiss you?” Will asks. And even as he’s asking, Nico’s leaning down. Will meets him almost half-way. It’s nothing like in the movies or in books. It’s not earth-shattering or fireworks. It’s garlic and Will’s cold fingers against Nico’s cheeks and Nico’s neck popping because the position is uncomfortable. Nico sits back up, laughing. Then Will is also sitting up.

“Here,” Nico says. Then he gently pulls Will’s face to his, pressing their lips together ever so softly. But Will’s impatient, so their teeth click together, and Nico’s glasses almost go into Will’s eye. “Gods, Will,” Nico mumbles. Will’s laughing against Nico’s cheek.

“Third times the charm,” he whispers. And then, Nico thinks, this is the kiss he’ll be telling his grandchildren about. Because while it isn’t perfect, it’s soft and comforting and everything Nico’s ever been scared to lose. It’s Will reading Nico’s homework assignments, and Nico complaining about Will’s music, and them being friends and more.

Will pulls away first, his cheeks completely red. Nico’s sure he looks the same. “That was nice,” Will whispers. And then Nico can’t help it. He’s laughing so hard, and Will’s joining him. And when they both calm down, they kiss again. And it gets better each time, until Nico thinks he’s drunk on Will’s lips. He doesn't have the words to explain this, but he thinks that's okay. He's content to just keep kissing Will, feeling Will kiss back.

“Merry early Christmas, Nico.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some cute fluff :)  
> send me prompts or leave me comments :)


	13. trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico's always finding trouble, until trouble finds him. Now, Will's got to find ransom money to get his husband back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> implied/referenced kidnapping

Will knew that Nico got into trouble more than he should. It was mostly because it could be difficult to get along with Nico. He had a stubborn streak that preceded his reputation, and he tended to lack self-preservation to the point where Will was always bordering on mothering him. Added to that, Nico had a strong sense of justice, which led to him getting into arguments that sometimes escalated into fights. So it shouldn’t have surprised Will to find a ransom note stuck to the windshield of his car one afternoon.

Will sighs, wondering what Nico had gotten himself into this time. Nico usually didn’t get into anything illegal, hedging the fine line between legal and flying under the radar. Well, before he could worry or anything, he had to pick up their son from school.

“Is Papa in trouble again?” Benji asks, which just attested to the number of times Nico had done so. Will nods. He’s not sure what his husband’s done this time, but he hopes it isn’t anything too extreme. With Nico, it was hard to tell. While Nico had managed to avoid run-ins with the law, he’d still managed to be noticed by several other groups that ran around New York. Honestly, Will wasn’t even sure what Nico did in his free time, and he liked not knowing. (Except for times like this.)

“Can I go to my friend’s place?” Benji asks.

“After you finish your homework,” Will says. His son huffs, a sound that was so Nico, before disappearing into his room. Will unfolds the ransom note, reading it quickly. As he’d suspected, it held no useful information. Other than the fact that if he didn’t produce some ridiculous amount of money on time, Will would be a widower.

Will sighs again, dialing Reyna’s number. She always knew what to do in these situations. Or, at least, she was more level-headed in these situations.

“Will?” comes Reyna’s voice. “I’m kind of in the middle of a class.” Will could hear voices in the background, telling him that Reyna was at work. Will sometimes forgot that people had normal nine to five jobs. Neither his nor Nico’s schedule was ever very regular.

“Um, call me back?” Will says. Reyna agrees and hangs up. It was a little past three-thirty. Too early to make dinner, too late to try and call Nico’s cell. Too early to freak out. Too late- His phone rings.

“Reyna!” he says without even looking at the caller ID.

“This is William Solace?” comes a voice that is definitely not Reyna’s.

“Yes, sir,” Will says.

“Good. I assume you got our ransom note.” Will nods, forgetting he’s on the phone. There’s some mumbling in the background, though Will can’t figure out what it is. He wishes he knew how to track numbers. Of course, that probably meant that they could track him.

“Yes, sir,” Will says eventually.

“You’ve got one month. Listen carefully.” And Will does, jotting down notes like he’s on some conference call instead of negotiating for his husband’s life. Will’s palms are sweaty, and his handwriting has always been kind of messy. But he does his best to make sure he’s got all of the information down correctly. Then the line goes silent. Will doesn’t dare call back.

“Dad, Ryan says he can come pick me up.” Will turns to look at his son. Benji was ten years old, and he looked more like Nico than Will. He was tall and wiry, his skin tan, his hair dark. There wasn’t a single freckle on his body, nor a curl in his hair.

“Okay,” Will says. He knows Ryan’s family, and if he’s going to find Nico, he probably shouldn’t do it with his son right beside him. Though, that strikes him as a very Nico thing to do. “Just let me know what’s happening, okay?”

Benji nods. A few minutes go by, and then there’s a knock on the door. Benji answers the door, Will too preoccupied to make small talk with Ryan’s parents. Then Benji is gone.

Will’s phone rings again. This time he checks the caller ID.

“So,” Reyna says. Will tells her everything, hearing a small sigh on the other end. This happens way too often. Not the ransom specifically, but Nico getting into trouble. Sometimes Nico’s too selfless (or impulsive) for his own good. “I guess we get the money,” Reyna says after a moment. “I mean, we don’t know who they are or what they want with him.”

“I guess,” Will says.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Reyna asks. “Help you with Benji and such.”

“No, you don’t have to do that.” Will felt bad. He didn’t want Reyna to just drop everything and come and take care of him and Benji. But on the other hand, he had two long shifts coming up, which Nico would usually cover, and he was super stressed. “But if you wouldn’t mind?”  
-  
Will and Nico’s place is spotless, Reyna thinks. Not that it’s usually a mess, but she understands that sometimes a clean house is lower on the list of priorities. But their house is clean, and Reyna remembers Nico telling her that Will cleaned when he was stressed.

“Hey,” Will says, yawning. He looks like he’s just woken up. “‘M going to go take Benji to school. Then off to work.” He rubs at his eyes, glancing at the time. “Shoot. I’m going to be late.”

Reyna sighs. “I can take care of Benji. You calm down first.” She’s familiar with the weird schedule of the di Angelo-Solace household, though she doesn’t know how either of them manages it.

Benji’s excited to see Reyna, and she’s glad that at least someone is excited to see her. (After she’d assured Will she would take Benji, he’d disappeared back into his room with nothing more than a series of yawns.) Benji tells her all about the new class pet and what he’s learning in school. And then he tells her about Nico.

“Dad says we have to make a lot of money so we can get Papa back.” Reyna nods. “Is Papa an agent?” Reyna shakes her head. It’d make more sense if Nico was an agent. Unfortunately, he just sometimes got into fights that weren’t his business or was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“I’m picking you up,” she says as Benji waves to her. After she’s done that, she heads to work. After doing the minimal amount of work required for a college degree, she’d opened her own workout studio. She liked it. She could make her own hours, work out when she wanted to, and she could teach classes.

As she warms up for her first class, she thinks about how they’re going to get such a sum. No one they knew made enough to cover the ransom, and even if they pooled their salaries together, they’d be working hard to make ends meet for months afterward. She calls Will.

“How about a fundraiser?” she asks when he picks up. “I mean, it’d be slightly illegal because the money will be going to some gang or thug, but it’s the only thing I can think of that won’t immediately empty our pockets. She hears Will sigh. There’s some annoying voice in the intercom on his end. “Everything okay there?”

“Just the usual,” Will says. “I guess we’ll have to work with the fundraiser. I can’t think of anything better. Other than asking Nico’s dad.” Reyna nods. Nico’s family was pretty rich, but Nico and them weren’t exactly on the best of terms for some reason.

“Wouldn’t hurt to ask,” Reyna says. “The worst they can do is keep ignoring him.”

“I’ll call this evening.” Reyna nods. Her first class is showing up now. “Gotta go,” Will says quickly before hanging up. Reyna rolls her eyes. What was she going to do with those two?  
-  
Will hasn’t talked to Nico’s dad since he and Nico got married. And that had been one of the most nerve-wracking moments of his life. It wasn’t that Nico’s dad was unfriendly or mean. He was just anti-social. Or, at least, he seemed to be. He was some big CEO of some big company, and he made so much money a year that he’d hardly blinked when he’d paid for Nico’s college education. And then some of their wedding. And he sent money for Benji every year, both for birthdays and Christmas.

Will has to actually look up Hades's number. It’s not one that Nico or he had ever needed to program into their phones. When he can’t find Hades’ number, he looks up the company. He hopes he won’t have to wait too long or go through too many people. Will hates talking on the phone. He’s more of a face-to-face kind of guy.

“Hi, I’m calling for Hades di Angelo. This is William Solace,” Will says, hoping he sounds at least semi-professional. He’s met with a secretary who puts him on hold for a while. Will glances over at Benji who’s reading on the couch. They’d adopted him seven years ago, two years after they’d gotten married, and he was honestly one of the best things that had ever happened to Will.

“Yes?” Will startles, almost dropping the phone. He’d forgotten he was on hold. He assumes whoever is on the other line has already introduced themselves.

“Hello, sir, this is Will Solace.” He’s cut off.

“My son’s husband, right?”

“Yes, sir.” There’s a pause, and Will takes that as a sign to go on. “I was calling because there’s a situation.” He tries to explain to Hades what had happened, even though Will isn’t quite sure what had happened. And then he ends it his explanation by asking for a five-digit sum of money.

He hears Hades sigh. “I always thought it’d be prison, but I guess the streets are just as well.” Will holds his breath, waiting for an answer. “How’s your son doing?”

“He’s well, sir. He just had a birthday last month.” Will hopes Hades doesn’t pick up on how uncomfortable he is.

“Yes, birthdays do tend to come every year.” There’s another pause, and Will would be biting his nails if he had any. (Long nails weren’t recommended when one was regularly sticking their hands into gloves, and then those gloved hands into injuries.) “I suppose I could give you some money. I assume this isn’t a prank call.”

“No, sir. Thank you, sir.” Will wishes he knew how to talk on the phone, though he’s not sure he’d want to be standing in front of Hades either.

“I’ll be sending the money then,” Hades says.

“Thank you, sir. We’ll pay you back when he can.”  
There’s a short bark of laughter on the other end. “Don’t bother. Just make sure my son and grandson are safe.” Then Hades hangs up. Will wonders if saying good-bye over the phone is outdated.  
-  
“Do you want me to come with you?” Reyna asks. “We can go while Benji’s at school.”

Will nods. He’d appreciate having company. Reyna drives while Will gives her directions. They end up near a run-down factory. Will’s always hated the idea of drugs in back alleyways and gangs in rundown places, but he figures that that’s the easiest place to not be seen.

“This is the place?” Reyna asks. Will nods. He lets her check the address just o be sure. “And you’re just supposed to leave the money on the table?” Will nods again.

“I guess we just trust them?” He wishes there was a sure way of knowing, but this place is giving him the creeps. Reyna huffs, but she places the envelope full of money on the table. Then Will drives them the heck out of there.

Reyna joins them for dinner, which is nice, because Will’s too anxious to make dinner. Reyna whips up some baked chicken and vegetables. Benji chatters on about his day, and Will does his best to listen. He doesn’t tell them that they gave the money to Nico’s kidnappers. He doesn’t want Benji to get his hopes up in case this all goes wrong.It’s been two weeks since Nico disappeared, and it still hasn’t gotten any easier to go to sleep without knowing he’ll be home in the next few hours. Will tosses and turns to the point where he’s just doing it to do something. He eventually gets up, making himself some tea. He tries to calm himself. He has another long shift tomorrow, so he needs to be focused and calm. He needs to get some sleep.  
-  
She’s just walking through the door when they get the call. Will is so relieved that he starts crying. Reyna has to drive. And there’s Nico, just walking down the street. Will practically tackles Nico, checking him over for any injuries before lecturing him.

“Glad to be back, Will,” Nico says, but he’s smiling. And Reyna can tell he’s relieved to see Will again. On the way back, Nico tells them what happened. Apparently, he’d gotten himself into an argument, and it had ended badly. But he was fine now. Just a little more than ticked off. Reyna can tell Will’s having trouble believing that that was all there was to it, but neither of them asks for more details than Nico offers up.

Benji comes flying at his papa when they pick him up from school. He sits in the backseat with Nico, catching him up on all of the things he’d missed. Reyna has to make dinner again because the di Angelo-Solace family unit is back together, and she’d have a fight on her hands if she tried to separate them.

It’s not until after Benji’s (reluctantly) in bed that Nico’s expression grows more serious. He’s snuggled up in Will’s arms, and on most occasions, Reyna would find this sickeningly sweet. But now it’s comforting.

“I want to call the police,” Nico says. And no one tries to stop him. He reports whoever the kidnappers were. Reyna doesn’t need names; she just needs justice. And though that doesn’t solve everything, it puts them all at ease.

“I cannot believe my father gave you all of that money,” Nico says after everything’s been said and done. Reyna can’t believe it either. “I think we’re actually going to have to send him a Christmas card every year now.”

She catches Nico’s smirk as he says this, Will’s soft smile. Will kisses Nico’s hair, and Nico flicks Will’s wrist for being so sappy. They’ll be alright, Reyna thinks. Until the next time Nico finds himself in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated :)


	14. falling in love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico thinks he's in love with Percy Jackson.

People always talked about falling in love under the stars, or in a candlelit room, or by gazing into your lover’s eyes. It was always walking on the beach and daisies in your hair and looking like someone hung the moon. It always happened in romantic places, places designed for falling in love, places that people read about in books.

Nico was sitting in a math classroom, full of half-asleep teenagers (on a good day) who were all desperately watching the clock’s minute hand tick forward. Everyone except for Nico. Who was watching the way that a certain green-eyed boy was secretly thumb wrestling the kid sitting next to him. Percy almost had him, but the other kid (Nico had to admit) knew what he was doing.

“Nico, pay attention,” Annabeth hisses. “We’re going to have a test on Friday.” But Nico couldn’t care less about the test. Because at that moment, Percy Jackson wins the thumb wrestle, throws his arms up in victory, and then gets himself one hour of after-school detention.

As Percy ducks his head (to hide his victorious smile), Nico’s heart is doing weird flips, and he feels his face heat up. He can’t concentrate on anything but the way that Percy’s hair falls in his eyes as he hunches over his desk, that victorious smile still on his face, the way that his shirt is lifted just slightly giving Nico a sneak peak of Percy’s stomach. This is the moment Nico thinks he falls in love.  
-  
He’s sitting on Will’s bed, attempting to do the math that he so adamantly ignored in favor of watching Percy. Will glances over at him after the third annoyed sigh. Unlike Nico, he’s probably been diligently working on his homework.

“I just don’t get it,” Nico huffs. Will leans over, pulling Nico’s math textbook closer so he can read it. He glances at Nico.

“It’s just algebra. You’re overthinking it,” Will says. It’s probably true. They’ve been doing algebra since the seventh grade. But Nico isn’t talking about his math (because who wants to think about math when there’s a cute boy he could be thinking about instead?).

Nico wants to ask Will, but they’ve never really talked about crushes. Sure, they’d talked about which celebrity they thought was hot or which girls would most likely be asked to the prom, but they’d never talked about it like it mattered. Nico was sure Will had had crushes before, and he’d had a few himself, but it wasn’t something they ever talked about. And now that Nico thinks about it, he’s not even sure if Will would be okay with him liking Percy. Because was it okay to like boys?

Nico wasn’t sure. And he wasn’t sure if he wanted to risk his best friendship with Will over it.

“You there, Nico?” Will asks. Will nudges Nico’s shoulder, making Nico’s pencil drag a dark line across his otherwise empty homework.

“I like Percy,” Nico blurts out. "I mean, I think I like Percy.” Nico kind of can’t believe that he’s just said that out loud, and now Will’s just kind of looking at him. An expression that Nico doesn’t quite recognize crosses Will’s face, but Nico’s too busy freaking out to try and figure out what it is.

“Can you say something?” Nico asks. He tries to sound snarky, but it comes out quiet and unsure.

“Okay,” Will says after a moment. “I mean, it’s okay to like boys. You can like whoever you want. You don’t need my permission.”Nico’s too relieved to realize that there’s something off with Will’s response.  
-  
Nico’s dragged Jason along because he’d already asked Will, and Will had something. Jason looks slightly confused, but Nico’s too busy trying to find Percy that he doesn’t bother to explain. Nico had done some research about the best spot to sit, and now he’s determined to find it. Jason follows cluelessly along.

“So, tell me again why we’re here?” Jason asks when they’re finally seated. Nico’s still not sure if this is the best spot, but the game-match-meet was about to start.

“Because,” Nico hisses. He hasn’t exactly told Jason. And while he doesn’t think Jason will hate him for being gay, Percy’s one of Jason’s best friends. “I thought it’d be nice to see what the rest of my class does on the weekends.”

“They sleep in and not go to swim meets,” Jason says. “Exactly what you used to do.” He looks suspicious, and Nico figures he’ll just have to tell Jason before Jason goes asking their friend group.

“I want to see Percy,” Nico says. Jason still looks confused. Nico sighs. “I’m gay. I like Percy. Get over it. Let me watch the game- meet.” Despite the fact that Nico did some research about swimming and stuff, he’s still not very good at sports lingo. He doesn’t understand why each sport has their own name for getting together and competing.

“Okay,” Jason says. He still seems kind of unsure, though.

“What?” Nico asks.

“Have you told Percy?” Nico raises his eyebrows. It’s been two weeks since he admitted (to himself and Will) that he had a crush on Percy, could be in love with Percy Jackson. Of course he hadn’t told Percy yet. “I just mean, he’s kind of oblivious to that kind of thing,” Jason says.

“You think I should?” Nico asks. He’s never really thought about telling Percy. In his dreams, he’d just kind of skipped that detail. Went straight from the crush to the dating (to marriage, sometimes).

Jason shrugs. “It’s up to you, really.”

Nico wonders why having a crush was so complicated. He wishes it were easier. Like math.  
-  
Nico’s crush comes up again when he’s eating dinner with Will’s family. It’s not uncommon for him to eat with the Solaces. Oftentimes, he’ll end up having dinner with them just because he and Will had been doing homework or had plans later that evening.

“So, Nico, school’s been good?” Naomi Solace asks. Nico nods. “Anyone special caught your eye?” Nico almost chokes on the food in his mouth.

“Mama!” Will whines. His younger sister giggles. His older brother is smirking. Nico’s just focused on keeping a straight face.  
“It’s a perfectly reasonable question. You two are fine young men. It’s only natural that someone’s caught your eye.” Will sighs, stuffing a bite of chicken in his mouth. Naomi turns back to Nico. “I’ve asked Will, but he’s being awfully tight-lipped about it.”

Nico’s surprised to hear this. He kind of always thought Will would tell him if he had a serious crush on someone. Maybe Will was also unsure about his crush.

“He hasn’t said anything to me either,” Nico says.

“So, no one?” Naomi asks. Nico shrugs.

“I’m still figuring it out,” he says. Naomi nods.

“Well, I wouldn’t worry too much, sweetie. Both of you boys are handsome and sweet enough. Just you wait.” Will’s cheeks are pink now, and he excuses himself to refill his glass. Naomi smiles after her son. “First love can be the sweetest but also the hardest,” she says.

Later, when they’re back in Will’s bedroom, Will apologizes with his hands covering his face. Nico laughs, glad to see that Will was just as embarrassed. It was annoying to go through things alone. They were much better with your best friend by your side.

“How was the swim meet?” Will asks. Nico didn’t understand too much of what was happening. It was mostly a lot of swimming in several different ways. He didn’t quite get the appeal of it, but he supposed he could learn to at least appreciate the sport.

“Was what your mom said true?” Nico asks, curiosity getting the better of him. Will buries his face in his hands again, letting out a dramatic groan. Nico smiles. He knows Will’s not really upset, maybe just embarrassed.

“What if it was?” Will asks. Nico’s unsure how to take this. Will was a straightforward kind of guy, and he was always pretty open with his emotions. (When they were in middle school, Will had cried over a mouse that they’d found dead on the road.)

“I don’t know. I told you about my crush.”

Will huffs. “Fine. I’m not going to tell you his name, though.” And now Nico’s really listening. Because Will also has a crush on a boy? “He’s just really fun to be around, and he’s got this great laugh. And dark brown eyes.” Will smiles softly, and Nico’s happy to see Will happy.

“That’s all I get?” Nico asks, and Will startles, his eyes widening. He starts stuttering something out, but Nico just shakes his head. “That could be almost anyone.”

Will grins. “I mean, not everyone. I have specific tastes, Nico.” Nico just looks at him for a moment before they both start laughing.  
-  
Nico’s in the library, but he’s not studying. Instead, he’s watching Percy and Annabeth. He’s not sure what it is, but something about the two of them makes him upset. Annabeth’s leaning into Percy’s space, pointing out a few things on his notebook, pushing her textbook closer to him. Percy’s leaning in, too, his shoulder brushing Annabeth’s ponytail. He laughs at something she says.

Nico wants to be there, in Annabeth’s place. He wants to be the one that makes Percy laugh and understand whatever they’re studying. He wants to be the one that Percy leans close to, whispering in his ear.

Nico closes his book and stands up. He can’t do this anymore, watching Annabeth flirt with his crush. (He denies the idea that Percy was flirting back.)  
-  
“What if you ask him to that Halloween dance?” Jason suggests. Nico wrinkles his nose. He’d rather not be seen anywhere near that Halloween dance. It was just a lame attempt the school made every year to keep their students safe and in good moral standing. The scariest part of the dance was being seen showing up to said dance.

“I heard he’s already got his Halloween costume planned out,” Jason adds. Will had been thinking about his costume, too. Nico wasn’t sure if he was going to dress up this year. He’d dressed up previous years, more due to Will’s persistent begging rather than his own desire to beg for candy. “He probably wouldn’t mind if you just wore your grim reaper costume from last year.”

“I guess,” Nico says. It’d been a month, and nothing had happened. He hadn’t even said one more word than usual to Percy when their friend group hung out. He was kind of tired of just sitting around and waiting for something to happen. Plus, Percy and Annabeth had been hanging out more recently, and Nico was tired of that weird feeling he got whenever he saw them together.

That was how Nico found himself walking up to Percy just after lunch. Percy looked surprised to see him, which Nico didn’t understand. Sure they didn’t talk too much now, but they’d been friends for at least four years now.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Nico asks, suddenly nervous. It’d been a while since he’d been this close to Percy. Up close, Nico felt his cheeks redden and his hands become sweaty. Percy stands there, smiling. “I’m going to ask you.”

“Okay. Yeah, go for it, Nico,” Percy says.

Nico takes a deep breath, steeling himself. “Do you want to go to the Halloween dance with me?”

For a moment, Percy looks surprised. Then he looks unsure. Then he looks guilty. “Um, actually, I’m kind of already going with Annabeth.” His mouth keeps moving as he says more, but Nico’s not really listening anymore. Because Percy’s going with Annabeth. Annabeth got there first. Or maybe Nico wasn’t good enough for Percy to notice him.Nico skips the rest of the school day.  
-  
Will finds him first. Nico’s sitting on his bed, his knees up to his chest. He feels like crying, but it hasn’t happened yet. He’s still embarrassed and ashamed. Why did he think Percy would like him? He hasn’t even said more than ten sentences to the guy in the past year. He’s never made Percy laugh like Annabeth had. Percy’s never asked him to-

“Hey,” Will says softly breaking Nico from his thoughts. Nico doesn’t look at him. His cheeks are still burning red.

Will sits down on Nico’s bed. After a few more minutes, he scoots so that he’s right next to Nico. If Nico wanted to, he could lean over and rest his head against Will’s shoulder. Actually, the thought doesn’t sound so bad. So he does. Will doesn’t move away.  
“It’s okay,” Will says next. “There are other guys in the world besides Percy Jackson.” And it sounds ridiculous, but Nico knows he’s right. “He’s not the only one who deserves a happy ending, you know. You do, too.”

And now Nico’s crying. Because Will’s being so nice, and it feels so awful to have been rejected. And what if he really wasn’t good enough? Does that mean he’s not good enough for other guys? And leaning against Will, Will’s arm around Nico’s back, Nico realizes that he hasn’t really been a good friend lately. Not to Will, at least. And so he’s crying now, and it feels good for the most part.

Nico thinks Will is humming. It’s kind of weird to be in Will’s arms. They’ve never been this touchy before, but it’s nice. Will is warm and comforting, and even though his humming is kind of off-key, it’s also nice. Will doesn’t say anything, just hands Nico a few tissues after he starts to calm down.

“I think I’m a mess,” Nico mumbles. Will laughs quietly.

“I don’t believe that,” he says. Will’s smiling, and his hand is still on Nico’s back. And even though Nico’s got snot running out of his nose and tears running out of his eyes, Will’s still looking at him the same way he does every day. And it’s really nice. Really, really nice.

And then Nico groans because he thinks he’s falling in love again. For real this time, with Will Solace. Just as romantic as ever, of course, with his tear stained face and surrounded by gross tissues. Will looks at him, concern in his blue eyes. But Nico just smiles, blows his nose again.

“I can’t believe I thought I was in love with Percy Jackson.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated.


	15. playdate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're toddlers, and they build forts. :)

Will was really excited because he was at his first playdate ever. He’d been invited by his friend Nico to Nico’s house, and Will had been waiting all week for Saturday. Now, he was sitting in Nico’s big living room with Nico’s big sister and a few of his other friends from school.

“What should we do?” Percy asks. He keeps glancing at Nico’s big sister. She’s sitting off to the side, watching them to make sure they behave. Nico’s parents had said that if they didn’t behave, they’d have to go home. Will didn’t want that. He wanted them all to play together and have fun.

“Tag?” Leo says. He’s bouncing up and down on the couch, and Will thinks he’s going to fall off.

“We played tag last time,” Piper says. Jason agrees with her. Will doesn’t mind if they play tag, but he isn’t very good. He’s not as fast as the others, and it’s no fun if you’re always the one chasing people.

“How about we go outside?” Jason suggests. Will glances outside. Nico had a big backyard and a playground in his backyard. Will thought that was really cool. He didn’t have a playground in his backyard, just a sandbox.

“Mama said we had to stay inside,” Nico says. “She says it’s going to rain later, and we don’t want to get sick.” Will agrees with that. He’s been sick before, and it was awful. He had to drink icky medicine, and he wasn’t allowed to play with his friends.

“What about a fort?” Will suggests. He’s quite proud of himself for having an idea. He hasn’t had this many friends before, and it’s fun. “We could have a bunch of pillows and blankets and hide underneath them,” he adds.

“We should see who makes the best fort,” Reyna says. Will smiles. She likes his idea.

“Girls against boys!” Annabeth decides. Jason and Percy whine, but it’s fair.

Each team gets their own couch, and they kind of divide up the blankets. Will thinks that Piper stole one of their blankets, but he doesn’t tell anyone. His mom had said that they had to play nicely or else she’d come to pick him up early.

“Think we can make the best fort?” Nico asks. Will shrugs. He’s only made three forts before, and Mama and his older brothers had helped him. They were a lot better at making forts than Will.

“I think Annie might win.” Nico looks over at the girl’s fort. He nods. “She has more blankets,” Will whispers. Nico nods again.

“Maybe we should steal some back. That way we can win,” Nico says. Will nods. If they don’t get caught, it can still be playing nice. Because the girls had stolen the blankets first.

Nico and Will pretend that they are spies on a secret mission as they sneak up on the girl’s fort. Nico wants to grab the blue blanket, but Will thinks that the white one will be better. It’s bigger, he explains. He’s about to grab the blanket when Annabeth comes out to grab another pillow.

“Want to come inside?” she asks. Will glances at the boy’s fort. It’s just a pile of blankets and pillows. Annabeth’s actually looks like a fort. The boys nod.

“You’re really good at building forts, Annie,” Will says. Annabeth smiles.

“I like building things,” she says. “It’s fun. I want to build things when I get older.”

Will nods. “I want to save lives.” Annabeth nods. Nico smiles. Piper is making pillow beds inside of the fort, and she lets Nico and Will sit on them. Reyna’s in charge of making sure no one tries to tear their fort down.  
“I think we won,” Reyna says. Will glances outside of the fort. Their fort is very sad looking. Nico agrees.

The girl’s fort reminds Will of his own forts. He sits next to Nico as they watch Jason and Percy and Leo try to build their fort. It keeps falling over. Will can see Bianca trying to help them, but Leo keeps destroying it.

“Leo! Stop knocking the pillows over!” Jason whines. He scrunches up his nose, looking at Bianca. “He keeps running into the fort and knocking it over.”

“It’s not nice,” Percy adds. Will watches as Annabeth gets out of the fort to go and help them. She makes them a small fort that Jason and Percy can sit in. Leo’s in timeout for knocking over their fort so many times. Will hopes that he doesn’t have to go home because of Leo. He’s having a lot of fun.

“Cooties!” Will hears Jason yell. He looks over at Percy just in time to see Annabeth kissing Percy’s cheek. Percy’s face is red, and Nico thinks this is funny. Will laughs, too, until Jason yells about cooties again. “He needs a doctor!”

Nico nudges Will, and then Will is rushing out of the fort. He and Nico get Percy into the boy’s fort. Then they have to decide how to help him. Percy is still very red, which Will isn’t sure is good. Nico’s still trying not to laugh.

“This is serious, Nico. Percy’s got cooties,” Jason says. Jason is very serious.

“A cootie shot is what he needs,” Will says, proud of himself for remembering what his brothers had told him. “I need Percy’s arm.” Jason lays Percy’s arm in Will’s lap. “Now hold still. This shouldn’t hurt,” Will says. That’s what real doctors said. “Circle, circle, dot, dot. Now you’ve got your cootie shot!” Will says. He takes his time drawing the shapes on Percy’s arm with his finger, smiling when the shot is over.

“He needs a band-aid,” Nico says. “To keep him not sick.” Will nods. Nico gets the band-aid, a Scooby-Doo one. Jason puts it over Percy’s arm. “Now he’s all better.”

“Are you okay, Percy?” Percy nods.

“No more cooties!” Percy yells. They all laugh.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Bianca asks. “You have to bring your pillows out here, so you can see the TV.” They all grab their pillows, moving so they can watch the movie.

It’s the Disney movie with the mermaid, one of Will’s favorites. He sets his pillow down next to Nico. “Do you have cooties?” Nico asks suspiciously.

Will shakes his head. “Only girls have cooties.” Nico nods. Will is sitting very close to Nico, and Nico shares his crackers with Will. Jason makes sure that Percy sits next to him to avoid getting more cooties, and Leo’s not in timeout anymore. Which Will likes because that means he can watch the movie with them. He likes hanging out with his friends.

“I want to be a mermaid,” Percy says.

Annabeth laughs. “You can be a merman,” she says. Percy nods.

“I want to be a merman. Because then I could swim all day and never get tired,” Percy says.

“I want to be the prince,” Nico whispers in Will’s ear. “That way I can get married and live happily ever after.”

Will smiles. He’d like to live happily ever after, too. “Me, too,” he says, and Nico smiles at him. “And we can live happily ever after together.”

“Forever,” Nico says.

“Shhh,” Piper says.

They watch the whole movie. Will’s very tired by the end. Nico had to keep waking him up so that he could see the evil sea witch be defeated. But Nico’s also nice, and he lets Will rest his head on Nico’s shoulder. Will yawns, and Nico laughs. Will thinks he saw Nico yawning, too. But he doesn’t know for sure.

“I think it’s nap time,” Nico’s mom says. Will hadn’t seen her come in. Nico’s dad is also there. He nods. “Time to get you kids home,” he says.

Percy starts crying because he doesn’t want to go home. Piper and Jason are already asleep. Leo’s hiding in the fort, Will thinks. Nico just looks at Will.

“Promise to come and play next time?” Nico asks. Will nods. He had a lot of fun, and he really likes having fun. Especially with his friends.

“Pinky promise,” he says. Nico smiles. They pinkie promise, and then Will’s mom comes to get Will. She asks him about the playdate and about the movie. But Will’s just really tired. He feels Mama carry him up to his room and tuck him in.

“Sweet dreams, Will.” Will wants to ask her if he can play with Nico again, but Mama’s turned off the lights. And Nico isn’t there to keep Will awake. He tells himself to remember to make Mama promise that he can play with Nico again. And then he’s asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are appreciated :)
> 
> (still accepting prompts)


	16. happily ever after

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some frazel fluff with a Cinderella au  
> background solangelo :)

Hazel sat at the kitchen table just waiting for someone to read the mail. She’d already opened all of the letters and gotten rid of the junk. That left one very obvious and shiny piece of parchment sitting in the middle of the table. It was covered in decorative handwriting that stood out from the usual array of butter and toast and eggs. And also fruit, because Jason insisted that they all have a balanced diet.

Hazel watches as her family makes their way to breakfast. Nico’s yawning. He leans over the parchment as he grabs the toast. Hazel watches in mild horror as he slathers the thing with butter and jam before stuffing it into his mouth. Percy’s next. He also misses the parchment, going straight to the blueberries. Hazel sighs.

Jason is last to breakfast, still dressed in his robe and slippers. He must have had a late night, though Hazel wasn’t sure what Jason did in his spare time. Maybe he gardened? He had some kind of job in town, but Hazel never understood exactly what his title stood for.

“What have I told you guys about leaving the mail on the table?” Jason asks. He shakes his head, snatching the parchment up. Hazel knows he’s read it when he almost chokes on his eggs. “Wait. Is this really happening?” He brings the parchment back over to the table.

“Yes, it is. Glad you guys are so observant.” Percy just shoves another handful of blueberries into his mouth.

“Who needs a princess? I very much prefer the single life.” He flexes his muscles before stealing the jam from Nico. Nico huffs, but he doesn’t fight. “Too bad for the ladies I suppose.”  
“Right. Because they’d totally want a piece of that.” Nico grabs his jam back, poking Percy in the stomach. Percy squeaks, glaring at Nico.

“So, no one wants to go?” Hazel prompts.

“I mean, sounds like a ball,” Jason says, winking. “But I’m with Percy. I’m not in the market for a prince” Hazel sighs. She was surrounded by the most unromantic people in town. It wasn’t exactly their fault, but they could be a little more enthusiastic about her romantic endeavors. Just because they had their lives figured out didn’t mean she did.

“So, are you going?” Nico asks. “You obviously wanted us to say something,” he adds, going back to his toast. He looks disinterested, but Hazel knows he cares. She knows they all care, in their own special way.

“Definitely.” Jason nods.

“You’ll need a dress. Which won’t come from us.” Hazel knew. While her family was very talented, sewing and fashion were not their strong points. “But we do have some savings. If you wanted to get a dress.”

“Yeah. I got some money,” Percy says. He nudges Nico. “Ditto.”

Hazel beams, hugging each of them. “You guys are the best.”  
-  
Hazel wasn’t having any luck finding a dress. It wasn’t that she was picky (okay, maybe a little bit, the dress had to be perfect), but there was also the price to worry about. Her family wasn’t poor, but they weren’t super wealthy either. Most dresses worthy of ballroom dancing were far above her price range. Hazel sighs.

“No luck?” Nico asks. He’d been reading when Hazel had walked into the garden. She could tell Jason had just watered as the ground was a little muddy. Still, the weather was nice.

Hazel shakes her head. “Nothing felt right.” Nico gives her a look. “What? You’ve never gone dress shopping for a ball at the castle.” Nico shrugs.

“No, but I’ve never wanted to before.” Hazel sighs.

“Not even for a cute guy?” Nico smirks.

“I’d never buy a dress.” He pauses. “And, also, I have very high standards.”

Hazel laughs. She drops her head onto Nico’s shoulder, effectively stopping his reading. “I need to impress Prince Frank,” Hazel sighs. “He’s just so handsome and kind and amazing.” She knows her cheeks are red, but she knows Nico won’t make fun of her for it.

“And if he’s all of that, he’d be crazy not to fall for you.” Hazel smiles. Her brother was amazing. “But if he doesn’t, Percy and I will take care of him.” Hazel sits up.

“Don’t you dare. He’s the prince!” Nico laughs.

“And you’re our sister. So it doesn’t matter.” Nico shrugs. “So, are you done now? Because I was in a really good place in my book.” Hazel sighs. She supposes she can go bother Percy or Jason.

“Have no fear, your fairy godmother is here!” comes a bright voice. Nico jumps, pulling Hazel behind him. “And I don’t bite.”

Standing in the middle of Jason’s vegetable garden is some dude. Hazel thinks she hears Nico squeak, and if she weren’t so worried about the random guy in their garden, she’d totally tease him.

“Um, who are you?” Nico asks.

“Your fairy godmother!” the stranger proclaims. Hazel looks at him. He looks kind of bright. His hair is very blond, and his skin is very tanned. He also has very blue eyes, and there seems to be glitter stuck to his skin. “Well, maybe not mother, but I’m here to help.”“Help with what?” Hazel asks.

“Getting you to that ball,” the fairy godmother says. “I’m trained in hair and makeup as well as flirting. Oh, and I can also provide transportation.” He beams, stepping out of the garden. Hazel glances at Nico, smiling when she notices that he’s blushing. “So, should we get started? The ball’s tonight, right?” Hazel nods.

“I’m Will, if that’s easier. I know I don’t look like an old lady or something. But I’m just as magical and wonderful. Possibly even more so.”

“Okay, Will,” Nico says. “If you’re so amazing, let’s see what you can do. If not, I’ll kindly ask you to stop flirting with my sister.” Hazel sighs. Sometimes brothers were great. Sometimes, they were less so.

“Right,” Will says. “Well, uh, let’s get started.” He glances at Nico once more before turning to Hazel. “So, what’re you thinking?”

Hazel describes her perfect dress down to the last thread. She hopes Will has a good memory. He keeps nodding as she’s talking, brushing off more glitter from his arms and hair. When she’s done, she looks at him expectantly.

“Well, close your eyes. It’s more fun that way.” Hazel glances at Nico before closing her eyes. She can hear Will chanting something that she’s sure aren’t real words. Then she feels like she’s being blasted with glitter. She certainly hopes that she won’t end up too glittery. (That stuff is so hard to get rid of.)

“Think that’s good?” she hears Will ask.

“Maybe just a bit more there,” she hears Nico reply. Will agrees, and then there’s another blast of magic. “Perfect.”

Hazel opens her eyes to Nico staring at Will, Will grinning. “So, how do I look?” She can’t see herself, but what she can see of the dress is exactly like she had imagined. The fabric was so soft, and she couldn’t believe that this was happening.

“You look amazing. Now for hair.” They go inside for this as the garden is kind of muddy. Percy’s on the couch when they walk in.

“Nico got a boyfriend?” he asks. Nico’s face turns red, and Will splutters.

“I am a fairy godmother. I’m here to help Hazel,” he says, but Hazel sees him glance at Nico. Percy looks just as convinced as Hazel.“Right. Well, I’m going to be upstairs. So remember that for later.” Nico tries to discreetly flip Percy off. Will flutters around Hazel, asking her about her hair preferences.

“Just something out of my face. When I dance, it tends to be annoying.” Will nods. He’s got his own curls, so Hazel figures he at least knows a bit about what she’s talking about. Will ends up just clipping Hazel’s hair back with an elegant clip that matches her dress. “That’s perfect,” she breathes. Will grins.

“I’m pretty good at my job, if I do say so myself.” He looks at Hazel. “I’m thinking just a little bit of makeup. The palace lights can be a little bright. Don’t want you looking washed out.” He brushes some light makeup over her cheeks.

“Can I look now?” Hazel asks. She couldn’t wait to see what she looked like. Will nods, grinning. They walk over to the tall mirror that Percy uses for working out. Hazel gasps.

The dress perfectly complemented her complexion, the fabric more narrow around her waist, flowing out from her waist. When she moved, the sparkles around the hem sparkled. Her hair was pulled back to accentuate her facial features, highlighting her wide smile. She pulls Will into a hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is a dream come true. Oh my gosh!” Will grins.

“And now for the man?” Will asks. Nico splutters, his face bright red.

“I’m not going to the ball,” Nico says. Will looks surprised.

“He has high standards,” Hazel adds. Nico glares at her. “But I’m sure they’re not as high as he says they are.”

“You’ll be the last to know,” Nico threatens. Hazel doesn’t care. She’s on her way to the ball.

“And now for transportation,” Will says. “I have taken the time to hire a coach for this evening.”

“No mice?” Nico asks.

“Hiring is more humane and helps the economy.” Hazel laughs, winking at Nico. If he didn’t make a move on this boy, she was going to hold this over his head for the rest of his life.

Will helps her into the coach, smiling. “Just remember. I only hired them until midnight.” He pauses. “You have no idea how hard it is to hire such last minute.” Hazel laughs.

“Thank you. This is so amazing.” She kisses Will’s cheek in thanks, laughing a little when she sees Nico pouting. Then she’s on her way to the castle.  
-  
The ball wasn’t quite like she’d expected. There were a lot of people there, but they weren’t all girls. Hazel supposed it’d be weird to only invite girls, especially since you can only dance with so many girls at once. It takes her a few minutes to spot Prince Frank. He’s standing at the front of the room, just watching his ball. A few girls come up to him, curtsy.

Hazel takes a deep breath. She can do this. She makes her way through some of the dancing couples and pining girls. When she makes it to the front, the prince isn’t there anymore. She looks around, startling when there’s a gentle tap on her shoulder.

“May I have this dance?” Hazel nods, blushing when she realizes it’s the prince. He wants to dance with her! She nods again, not remembering if she’d nodded the first time.

Prince Frank (Frank, he tells her to call him) is every bit as funny and kind and smart as she’d heard. He’s quieter, often having to repeat himself over the music. He seems very interested in her family and what she’s interested in. She tries to ask what he likes, but he always seems to turn the conversation back to her. She doesn’t remember how many dances they do before her feet get tired. She wasn’t used to dancing for hours on end, no matter how comfortable her shoes were.

Wait, hours?

She glances at the clock, panicking.

“Miss Levesque. Hazel, are you alright?” Frank takes her hand, moving them to the edge of the room so that they can talk better.“I’m fine. I just hadn’t realized the time. I must go.” Before she can run off, Frank gently places a kiss on her hand.

“At least let me walk you out, then.” Hazel obliges, wishing that this night never had to end. She wonders if Will is still back at her house so she can thank him. Frank walks her to her coach, kissing her once more before he closes the door. “I’ve had a lovely night. I hope I can see you again.”

“Yes, please,” Hazel says. Frank smiles. Then she’s heading home.  
-  
“So?” Nico asks. He and Percy and Jason had been sitting on the couch when she’d walked in. “Did you sweep the prince off of his feet?”

Hazel nods, proceeding to tell them every single little detail of the night. She knew she was flushed and sweaty and that her hair was falling in her face, but she didn’t care. She’d just had the most amazing night ever.

“Well, he’d better follow through,” Jason says. “If not, I’ll set Nico on him.” Hazel laughs, tying her hair up.

“So, are you two going to get married?” Percy asks. “Because I want to be the best man.”

“Hey, no. I’m going to be the best man!” Nico says. “You can be the flower boy.”

“No one’s getting married yet,” Hazel says, though she’s blushing. She’d be lying if she said she’d never thought about it. Frank was just so amazing. And he liked her back, probably. “Though, I think when I do get married, I get to make the decision, right?”

Nico and Percy pout.

“We’re really happy for you, Hazel,” Jason says. “And I’d be so happy to shower you with enthusiasm in the morning. I’m so tired.” Jason yawns, calling a good-night as he heads upstairs.

“Same,” Percy says. “Nico kept me from my nap earlier.”

Nico’s ears go red, and Hazel looks at him. His hair is messy, though that’s nothing unusual. Nico hardly ever cared for his appearance. Except, was he wearing a button-down shirt? And was that glitter on his skin? Hazel grins at the same time Nico tries to escape.

“Oh, no you don’t.” She grabs his wrist, plopping him down on the couch. “Spill.”

Nico shakes his head. “Nothing to say.”

Hazel beams. “Because I can see it all?” she teases. “Messy hair, dressing up, glitter.” Nico splutters.

“It wasn’t like that. I just kept him company while you were gone.” Hazel eyes him.

“And where is Will now?”

Nico flushes. “He may or may not be sleeping on my bed. Because he’s a stupid morning person and couldn’t even make it to ten-thirty.” Hazel laughs.

“Of course, he just so happened to already be in your bed.” Hazel winks.

“Well, maybe. But we weren’t doing anything. Just reading. And talking. And maybe a few kisses.” Nico covers his face. “He’s just so gorgeous. And his laugh.” Nico sighs. Hazel smiles. She’s happy for her brother. And, of course, he’d fall for a fairy godmother. He did have high standards after all.  
-  
Will ends up being a common household presence over the next few weeks, and though Nico denies that he likes having him around, everyone knows he’s lying. Will’s the voice of reason amongst Hazel’s family’s lack of fashion and style and romantic gestures. At first, he’d helped her with picking out her outfits when she went out with Frank. But then she found that she couldn’t find him anywhere (or Nico). Which was just as well because she needed to be able to pick out her own outfits.

Hazel found that the more that she hung out with Frank, the more she liked him. He could make her laugh and smile, and he always made sure that she was happy and comfortable. They went on cute lunch dates and carriage rides through the country. They even went horseback riding a few times when Hazel mentioned that she loved horses.

Honestly, things were so perfect, Hazel wasn’t even sure that it was possible for them to get better. But then they did. She and Frank were horseback riding again. He’d said that there was a surprise for her, but he wouldn’t give her any hints. They stopped by a lake where a picnic was already set out. Hazel wasn’t too surprised by the picnic. She’d already learned that Frank was a romantic.

“Care for a picnic, Hazel?” Hazel nods. They sit down. It’s a light picnic, mostly fruit and sandwiches. They eat in silence for a few minutes before Frank looks up.“Hazel,” he starts. And Hazel thinks she’s going to cry because even though she’s sitting, he’s getting down on his knees. “I never thought I’d find someone as amazing and wonderful as you. You make me so happy, and I love being with you. Will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?” He was fumbling over his words, and she could tell it probably hurt to be on his knees. But here he was, asking her to marry him.  
“Yes! Of course.” She’s crying now, so happy. Frank laughs, pulling her into a hug. He pulls back slightly to slide the ring over her finger before kissing her. “Oh gosh, Frank. I’m so happy.” She laughs, and Frank kisses her again.  
-  
They get married outside because that’s what Hazel wants. She’s wearing a beautiful wedding dress designed (magically) by Will. He’s done her hair and her makeup, insisting that he can’t do much because she always looks so amazing. Jason walks her down the aisle, and both Nico and Percy ended up being the best man. (Hazel decided that she loved her brothers too much to pick between them.)

Hazel tears up when they say their vows, and she’s definitely crying when Frank kisses her as his wife.

The reception is anything shy of extravagant, but Hazel’s too happy to care. She catches Jason eyeing the centerpieces. Percy’s talking to a few of the guests. She glances around, looking again.  
“Something amiss?” Frank asks. Hazel shakes her head.

“I was just looking for Nico.” Frank’s face reddens.

“He’s over there,” he says. His expression is a mix of embarrassed and amused. Hazel glances in the direction he’s looking, laughing. Nico and Will are dancing off to the side. It’s very clear that Nico’s on his way to getting drunk as he’s leaning into Will’s arms. Nico’s hands are trailing up and down Will’s sides, occasionally slipping underneath Will’s jacket. Will’s face reddens, but he doesn’t push Nico away. Hazel looks away. She’s just happy that her brother’s found someone who makes him as happy as Frank makes her.

Frank turns to her as a familiar song begins to play. Hazel smiles. “May I have this dance?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are appreciated :)


End file.
